Stitches In My Heart
by bronzed topaz
Summary: A possessive and scorned thief with a soft side and a neglected marquees' daughter turned servant. When the thief, of a whim, decides to save the kitten tempered servant from the Hunter Estate, they embark on a highly dramatic and coincidental journey in order to finally be happy. Definitely, OOC. Promised HEA. Set in 18th century London and France. M for suggested themes.
1. Chapter 1

**Stitches in my Heart**

_Rating: M (just to be safe)_

_Genre: Historical romance_

_Notes: This story does not contain any major drama. I had no idea where this was going when I was writing this. I did not even intend for it to be as long as it is (par. 25 thousand words). I just let the characters drive and they led me here. This is purely the story of two people meeting and falling in love. Nothing more._

_I started this story as a Write or Die drabble. I wrote 200 words and then saved it on a word document. Three weeks ago, I came across it and decided I would finish it. It sat there untouched. Then, under a week ago, I was craving a particular type of romance and had already read all that I owned. So I decided to write my own and came back to this story. While it did not turn out how I imagined, I am reasonably happy with it. I wrote the entire thing in about five days, the most I have ever written in such a short time. There are most likely plot holes and historical facts are a thing of myth in this story. Even so, I present to you a story recently titled Servant Bella in 19thC London._

_I hope it's okay._

* * *

**Chapter One**

_Isabella_

Isabella Swan walked down the street into the alleyway. It wasn't the brightest of nights, as the moon was only quarter full and the buildings surrounding her were the tallest you could find in London. Unfortunately, the alley wasn't the best either. It was cold and liquid squelched under her leather shoes. She didn't want to think about what she was walking on.

Why couldn't Lord Hunter take better care of the streets surrounding his estate? Lord knows he has enough money to do so. It was the only reason she was working for him – never mind the fact that no one else would take her. She didn't know why. She wasn't from a low family. She even went to one of the better tutor schools in London.

How to be a lady, she scoffed internally. Fat lot of good that education got her. Pinky fingers and light conversations weren't going to get her far in this house.

When she knocked on the wooden door set in the large stonewall, it opened with a creak, Jacobs dark face greeting her in the shadows.

"What are you doing out so late, Isabella?"

Isabella ducked inside the doorway, avoiding his curious stare.

"Nothing much, Mr. Black. Just fetching Lord Hunter his polished boots," she said politely, hurrying along the path towards the large house.

Isabella heard Jacob following her and grumbled quietly. If only he would leave her alone! If Lord Hunter knew that Isabella had left just to bid her friends goodbye, then she would never hear the end of it. He'd probably even dismiss her from his staff!

Oh, nobody in London would hire her then!

"But it is the dead of night, Isabella. A young woman such as yourself has no business roaming around the city at this hour Isabella."

"Shouldn't you be getting back to your post?" she asked, hoping to get rid of him.

Jacob fell back then leaving Isabella to hurry along the path alone. "I wont tell the Master this time, Isabella, but no more night roaming!"

She ground her teeth together. Jacob Black had no right to tell her what to do. He had no more authority over her than the pet dog. He was only the night back gate guarder. Nothing special. In fact, that was the only position lower than her own. As if she wasn't being told what to do by everyone else on this estate.

She was in so much in a hurry she didn't take any notice of the horse coming along the path towards her until she had stepped right in front of it, effectively spooking both the horse and herself with her shriek.

The horse, a large black animal, reared backwards as she did, falling on her bottom on the hard dirt. Her dress didn't do much to soften her fall, thin thing that it was. It did nothing against the cool weather that was for sure, but she had long gotten used to being cold.

"Calm, Samuel," the rider said.

Isabella sighed and reached to collect her bag where it had fallen on the ground beside her. Luckily, her papers hadn't fallen out, though her book had. She frowned, mildly upset that the covers were now covered it dirt.

Above her, the horse had calmed and the rider dropped down beside it. "Woman?" he questioned.

"Yes, sir?" she answered, collecting her things from the ground.

"Are you hurt?"

Baffled at the question, she shook her head in a negative reply. "No, sir. I am terribly sorry for spooking your horse."

The man came over, pulling her up by the tops of her arms. "What are you doing wandering around at this hour? These are private lands, you should be aware."

"Of course, sir, I work here. I was simply running an errand in town."

"You are a maid at the Hunter estate?"

"Yes sir," she said.

"Come then," he ordered. "I will take you back to the manor."

He grabbed her arm gently and pulled her behind him back to his horse. Taking her things from her, he slung the bag around her shoulders before lifting her easily onto his horse.

"Sir, I assure you it's alright. I can make my own way back," she tried to protest. The last thing she needed was an escort back to the estate. That was a sure way to get noticed arriving when she shouldn't have even left in the first place.

He didn't answer, simply swinging himself onto the horse behind her. It was a rather intimate position for Isabella, she herself never having even imagined behind so close to a man in her life, let alone actually sitting on the same horse as one. Whoever this stranger was, he was in no way out of shape, that much she could tell. While she couldn't see his features in the dark night, she could tell that he had sharp features, strong features. His hair was a mess too, looking as if he had spent the entire day galloping. Or in bed.

The thought made her shiver for reasons entirely unknown to her.

"Sir," she tried to protest again.

"Be quite, woman," he admonished. "I'm taking you back." His tone was unmovable, unwavering.

Okay then.

All she could do now was pray that her Master didn't notice her arriving. She didn't even want to think on what could happen to her if he did.

The horse trotted down the path towards the front of the estate. As they passed the side door where the maids and workmen of the house were supposed to enter, she attempted to get the man to stop and let her off, but he was having none of it.

"Hush," he admonished, continuing on around the house towards the front.

Isabella didn't know what he was planning, but the fact that she was so obviously not entering through the entrance provided for her was a sure sign that it was not going to be good. Even if this man wasn't planning anything malicious, Lord Hunter was sure to notice her if she was seen in front of the estate. Under normal circumstances, she was not permitted me be there. She had no reason to be, unless she was cleaning the front porch.

Isabella was falling deeper and deeper into despair and hopelessness. She was going to be let off the staff and then her life would be over. Without employment, she had nothing. No family to fall back on and her two friends had just moved away. There wasn't even anything she could do to stop this freefall; she wasn't permitted, under any circumstances, to protest or argue the actions of a Lord, or gentleman or whatever this man behind her was. That she had already tried to reason with him was harmful enough. He was obviously well above her station, as his horse and fine clothes presented. Her white dress, brown with dirt, and dingy corset, which she had only acquired as Lord Hunter required all his female staff to where one, held not a candle to his finery.

She imagined by now, even her hair would be a mess. She could feel it hanging down her back already having fallen out of its position of the top of her head in the fall minutes before.

Yes, she was sure doomed.

As they came around in view of the front of the estate, her last hope, that Lord Hunter wouldn't be close by, shattered. Of course she was there, sitting on the porch, most likely waiting on the man behind her to arrive. In her panicked state, she hadn't even questioned what a stranger was doing on the estate grounds. He would be a guest of her Masters, as she should have known.

"Mr. Cullen," Lord hunter greeted. "What an…unexpected surprise." She knew he wasn't talking about his arrival but her presence.

Mr. Cullen got off the horse and helped her off the same way he had helped her on. She didn't know why this man thought it appropriate to manhandle her, but she didn't like it one bit. It made her feel small. Smaller than usual that was.

In the light, she was able to see what the stranger looked like. Mr. Cullen was, by far, the most handsome man she had ever seen, and that wasn't just based on his exquisite looks. His messy hair she now found out was a strange colour, not quite brown but not quite red. His strong features were devoid of fear in the face of the Lord, defiant and daring.

She was struck. This man had sat behind her. She had felt his muscles, his body, pressed to her back. The thought made her flush. Handsome men like himself didn't sit behind women like her on horses.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, sir, but you did say that I should feel welcome in your estate, that I should make myself feel at home, so to speak."

The Lord appeared baffled by Mr. Cullen's words, but he nodded. "Of course, Mr. Cullen, but that does not explain why this girl is not in the maid's chambers like all my other maids." He shot her a dirty look, a look that promised punishment later.

Oh, she was in for it.

"Well," Mr. Cullen continued. "It is no secret that you bed your maids and, if you would so allow it, I would like the same courtesy."

Isabella didn't know which to react to first. The fact that Lord Hunter bedded his maids, or that this man wanted to bed her. No matter how good looking he was, that wasn't something she wanted for herself. She had always dreamed of having a husband, and while that dream looked for off now in her work as a maid, she hadn't completely lost it. If this man were to bed her, that dream would never be realized.

Oh, why had she started working for Lord Hunter? There were plenty of estates out there, even those with married Lords, but she had chosen this one. If she had known of Lord Hunter's night activities with his maids, which she most certainly had not, she never would have applied here.

Lord Hunter grinned at Mr. Cullen, a grim that made her sick to the bones. "If that's all your asking," he turned his darkly humorous stare at her. In that look she could see that he knew that she had snuck out and this was his form of punishment for it. "Then be my guest."

Isabella wanted to cry. This day had brought nothing but unhappiness for her. First she had lost her two friends and now she would be subjected to something that would be sure to ruin any future she had hoped of having. And Lord Hunter knew it too. In fact, the last year had been terrible and had all started with the death of her parents. With no brother, the family fortune had gone to her long distanced Uncle in Ireland. Nothing for the only daughter and her Uncle hadn't wanted a thing to do wit her.

If suicide wasn't a sin, then Isabella knew she would have taken that escape with arms wide open.

* * *

_Edward_

Edward Cullen hurried along the path leading towards the guesthouse that sat on the Hunter Estate. In one hand he held the leads of his horse and in the other he held the wrist of the woman he didn't know why he wanted so much.

When he had seen her on the ground after Samuel had spooked her, he was sit with a wave of lust. It wasn't the first time he had lusted a woman, nor he was sure it would be the last, but he knew this time was different. Woman, for him, were a mere necessity, a bonus of the life he lived and somewhat of a hassle to deal with. The pleasure they offered was rarely worth the things they demanded in return. Edward wasn't interested in a wife. He didn't need a woman to cart around with him, someone to tell him what he was doing was wrong. He was fine on his own and he had only taken a woman when necessary, when he had no other choice. It was an occasion that was few and far between, something to be enjoyed in the moment, but forgotten afterwards.

But this woman he wanted. This woman he desired. This woman he knew would be different from the others. Not in that he would forget her any differently from the others, but in that he knew he would have trouble stopping himself from taking her, something that he never had a problem with before. He had always been in complete control of his desires.

Beside him, he could hear the woman sniffling. He wished he could tell her she had no reason to fear, but that couldn't be the case. If she found out what he was up to, then she could run back to warn her Master and that wasn't something he could allow to happen. Soon enough though she would find out.

The guesthouse was remarkably smaller than the main house. Lord Hunter must have been the greediest man he had met by far, much greedier than the Count and Countess on the border of Ireland and Britain that was for sure. While he collected every jewel and penny for himself, he left everyone else around him to live without the money he had taken from them. The main house was easily twice the size of the guesthouse he had provided him for his short stay and it housed none of the fineries or riches that the main house had.

Adding to his dislike of the man, he didn't saw one of the help in his entire stay. It seemed as if the estate kept itself in order by magic not by men and women. The only time he had seen a maid was when he had snuck into the main house one night to examine the trinkets of value inside. Walking into the dining room he had seen Lord Hunter holding one of his young maids bent over the table, her dress hiked up around her waist, undergarments nowhere to be seen. The girl had been strangely silent, though her expression showed obvious pleasure. He had thought about interrupting them, not knowing if the woman had consented or not, but thought better of it. If she was enjoying herself, he would cause her only embarrassment, and if she wasn't, he could do nothing anyways. Yes, he could have stopped it once, but Hunter would only have come back the next night, or the night after that, when he wasn't there to intervene and it would have been much worse for the poor girl.

Thinking on this, he couldn't help but wonder if the woman at his side now had ever been in that other girls place. Surprisingly, the thought made him furious. Shaking the thoughts, along with the strange emotion off, he came to a stop at the front of the cottage, quickly tying Samuel to the porch and letting himself inside, taking the woman with him.

"No, please," the woman suddenly begged.

The sound surprised him, her having been silent the entire time. Closing the door behind them, he locked it with the key on the table beside the door and pocketed it. Knowing now that the woman could not escape, he let her go.

"Be calm, woman," he ordered, leaving her there as he stalked towards the bedchamber to collect his things. "I will not be touching you tonight."

He didn't see her reply but he heard her let out a sob of relief.

Having already packed for his departure, he picked up his bag of belongings as well as the bag that contained small trinkets from the main house, nothing that would be immediately missed. In fact, he would usually have at least until the following afternoon to get as far away as possible, but with the woman along, his absence would be noted far earlier than that. That meant he only had until the early hours of the morning, when she would be expected back to work, to escape from London. With midnight already steadily approaching, that was far less time than he would have liked.

He returned to the main room to find the woman attempting to open the window in the sitting room.

"It will not open, woman."

She jumped and spun to face him. Her brown hair was hanging loose around her waist. It looked far healthier than any maids he had ever seen.

"My name is Isabella," she snapped all the while cowering from him. The mixed reactions made his eyebrows rise. So she wasn't entirely feeble. Interesting.

Obviously taking his reaction to mean something different, she hurried to add, "That is, sir, if it doesn't trouble you too much, I would much rather prefer you call me by my name."

She would, would she? This woman was much more defiant than any other maid he had ever come across. He couldn't imagine that had gone over all to well with Hunter.

Thinking of Hunter again, he scowled. "We need to leave," he announced.

"Wait!" The woman ran up behind him as he went to unlock the door. "What to you mean leave? What do you mean 'we'?"

He shot her an impatient look. "I will explain later. Come."

Opening the door, he stalked over to Samuel and slung the bags over his back. Unfortunately, with the bags there would only be enough room for one rider. Unless the woman, Isabella, held one of the bags on her, but he didn't quite yet trust her not to throw them off the horse.

Turning back to Isabella, he found her right behind him on the path, obviously attempting to run past him back to the main house.

"Where do you think you're going?"

She froze. "You can't take me with you," she protested.

That was where she was wrong. "I can do anything I want."

She looked at him with wide eyes. "You can't! You can't take me away from here! That's kidnapping! Lord Hunter will notice. You'll be punished."

Amused by the victorious look in her eye, he shook his head. "By the time Hunter notices we're gone, we'll be well out of London. I haven't been caught yet. Have you forgotten that he thinks you're spending the night warming my bed?"

By the look on her face, he knew she had.

"So, will you be getting on that horse or will I have to tie you on it?" Not that he had any rope, but she didn't have to know that.

Isabella crossed her arms. "I am staying."

"No, you are not."

Isabella stomped her foot which amused Edward immensely. "Why do you want me to come with you so much anyway?"

"Because you're Hunters and I want you." In more ways than she knew.

She narrowed her eyes. "Whatever feud you have with Lord Hunter is not any matter of mine. I am innocent."

Did she have any idea what those words could be taken as?

"Are you?" He grinned.

Her eyes went wide. "You are despicable," she spat. "How dare you insinuate that I am not. That is no matter to be discussed between strangers."

No mater her reaction, Edward now knew that Isabella had indeed been untouched by Hunter. He could tell she spoke the truth, just by her appalled reaction. This pleased him, though he knew he shouldn't care.

"We really must be going, Innocent Isabella. Time runs short and I can assure you, if you go back to Hunter now, you will be his bedmate the following night."

This got through to her more than anything else.

"What makes me think you wont do the same?" she asked.

"I am a thief, Isabella, not a monster. I find no pleasure in knowing that the woman I'm bedding does not wish to be there."

Though she looked skeptical, she went over to the side of Samuel, easily hoisting herself onto his back. Edward looked on with shock. How could she do that? Of course, he was under no illusions that women could not ride horses, but no maid he had ever met knew how to. It seemed that that line of thought was going to become a reoccurring theme around this woman.

She looked back at him smugly. "Well, are we going or not?"

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, he went forward and grabbed the reins. Leading them around to the back gate, he peered ahead, seeing that his sedative had clearly worked. The boy who was supposed to be guarding it was out cold.

"What did you do to him? Jacob!" Isabella called out, the panic clear in her voice.

He turned and gave her a glare. "Quiet, you'll wake the entire estate at that level."

"What did you do to Jacob?" she demanded.

"He's simply asleep," he snapped. Her worry over the boy was igniting his anger again. These mixed emotions were slowly going to get the best of him.

The streets around the estate were empty in the dead of night. Only the occasional drunk or streetwalker could be seen. The condition of these parts left something to be desired. Again, he was struck with how selfish and greedy Hunter really was.

He didn't really have a destination in mind. Before, he had thought to travel across the country, but with Isabella with him he knew that wasn't going to happen. She wouldn't be able to survive travelling like he did, sleeping wherever he could. She was pure woman, he knew that. Even though she was a maid, she needed much more than the forest could provide.

Maybe he could go to the Hale's. They always had been good friends of his family's from when he was a young boy. At the age of twelve he had even had a crush on their youngest daughter, beautiful as she was even then, but as he got older, that crush quickly faded, though that wasn't a surprise at all.

However much he didn't want to see her again, it looked like this was his only option.

Turning, he led them down a small alley that would eventually lead them towards the Hale house.

"Where are we going?" Isabella asked behind him.

Not flicking her a glance he replied, "To an old family friends. They'll help us."

"You need help?" she scoffed. "Why, I never would have imagined it, strong, handsome thief that you are."

"You think I'm handsome?" he asked, amused.

She was silent.

"Don't worry. We'll be back to our own devices before you know it."

_All the better for getting her into my bed._

* * *

_Notes: This story has seven chapters and an epilogue. The next chapter should be along shortly._

_Thank for reading!_


	2. Chapter 2

_Note: Did I not tell you I would try and get the next chapter up soon? Well, here you go!_

_And I just realised that I never put up a disclaimer last chapter, so here we go: I do not own any rights to, did not write and do not own Twilight. Any characters plots, themes, etc familiar to the books belong to the author. I do not mean any harm with this fanfiction._

* * *

**Chapter Two**

_Isabella_

Isabella looked from the Hale home to Mr. Cullen with confusion.

"Why are we at the Hales?"

Mr. Cullen gave her a surprised look. "Do you know the Hales?"

"They're who I snuck out to see tonight." The memory offered her nothing but heartache now. "How do you know them?"

"Like I said, old family friends," he replied.

What a small world it was, she mused. How coincidental that they would both know the same family, he, a thief, and her, a maid. Especially considering he knew them from childhood and so did she. She wondered how she had never met him before now.

Mr. Cullen opened the gate, leading them into the small front garden. After helping her down front the horse, even though she was quite capable of doing so herself, as he well knew, he let Samuel roam inside the small space. She though it was quite reckless, seeing as how the fence was high enough for a good horse to jump, but he didn't seem to have any fear over it so she wasn't going to worry. It was his horse and she had no more need of him now, now that he had unknowingly delivered her right to the only people left in the world who cared about her.

She considered telling him that they would be preparing the leave on a boat to France in the early morning, but decided against it. If he knew that he might just leave with her now. Besides, she was in no way indebted to give him any information whatsoever.

Mr. Cullen knocked on the door loudly with the brass knocker. Waiting a few moments, he knocked again.

"They'll be asleep," she hissed, attempting to get him to keep down the noise. The last thing she wanted was for someone to see her, recognize her, and take her back to the Hunter estate. No matter how loathsome this Mr. Cullen was, Lord Hunter was surely worse. She had no doubts that Hunter would bed her if she went back, now that he thought Mr. Cullen had. He wasn't one to share without consequence.

While the words Mr. Cullen had spoken earlier, promising her that he wasn't going to touch her tonight, rang true, she had no doubt that he intended to at one point. She only hoped that she would be able to get away from him by then. The only points in his favour, the only reason she chose him over Lord Hunter, was she knew he would be kinder. Lord Hunter didn't strike her as one to be gentle or forgiving. It would be painful and hard, that much she knew. If it was to be any of the two, Mr. Cullen was most surely a safer option.

Plus, he was much more handsome.

Before Mr. Cullen could knock a third time, the door swung open, revealing Alice on the other side. She looked surprised to see him, but even more so to see her standing behind him.

"Bella!" she cried. "What on earth is going on?"

"I wish I knew," she sighed.

"Please tell Mr. and Mrs. Hale that Edward Cullen is here," Mr. Cullen interrupted, his tone demanding no arguments.

_So his name is Edward? What a fine name._

Alice shot her a confused, if not slightly insulted look, but left to do as Mr. Cullen demanded. Letting himself into the house, he stalked into the sitting room just past the entrance. Isabella followed him, glad to be inside and out of the cold. Even though it was spring, it was still cold and the weather seeped through her thin dress, through her underclothes right into her bones.

Where the Hunter house was full of jewels and expensive artwork, the Hale house was designed for a more comfortable money appearance. Soft wood floors, carpets, cushions and a heater instead of a bold fireplace. It had been a nice change for Isabella these last few months after the hard luxury of her new home. Even though she could only stay for an hour or two at the most, it was the best part of her long weeks.

Edward Cullen sat himself down on the couch, leaning back with a sigh. He closed his eyes, relaxing into the cushion.

Isabella didn't know what to say. She wanted to ask again why they were here, but she knew that already, even though the story was unbelievable. Anything else she would say sounded too much like a farewell, which would undoubtedly clue him in to her plans of escaping him and staying with the Hales.

So she stayed silent until Alice came back in with Sophie and Harold Hale. They were an older couple, at least in their early forties and while time hadn't been kind of either one of them, the beauty of their younger years still shone through. They were complete opposites, appearance wise that was. She was the light to his dark, the firm to his calm and loose demeanor. They shouldn't have worked, but they did.

"Edward, Isabella!" Sophie cried. "What the golly are you doing here in the middle of the night. And together." Her gaze flicked back and forth between the two of us.

Isabella opened her mouth to reply, but the words stuck in her throat. How could she explain that Edward Cullen, a guest at the Hunter estate, had stole her right from under Lord Hunters' nose in the guise of bedding her and that she had willingly gone along with him? They would think her crazy and then send her back to the estate. If she wanted their help, she had to play this right.

Luckily, Edward Cullen saved her from having to explain, though she was hard pressed to say that what he said was any better.

"I took Isabella from Hunter and I'm here because I need a little help."

The couple looked at each other for a moment.

"What do you mean you stole her? You can't steal a person!" Alice cried.

Edward shot her a look. "I can and I have."

Before Alice could protest more, Harold Hale jumped in. "Shush now, Alice. Edward, I'm afraid I don't understand the situation."

Reclining further into their couch, he answered. "Hunter deemed unworthy and I didn't like him much at all so I took his things. Miss Isabella here just happened to catch my eye on my way out."

"So you took her?" Harold sighed, running a hand through his short hair.

Edward nodded. "Now, do you have any liquor?"

Sophie gave him a frown. "There will be no drinking in the middle of the night."

"Come on Mrs. Sophie, just a little?" He smiled roguishly.

Isabella caught her breath at that smile. If he had looked at her like that, sinfully, sexually, she wasn't sure she would have been able to resist him. Her body reacted to that smile like it had never before.

Sophie Hale, however, just rolled her eyes at him. "Don't look at me like that. I said no drinks and I meant it. If you're staying, you should be aware that we are leaving in the morning."

Edward sat up. "Leaving? Where are you going?"

"Paris," Harold said.

"For how long?"

"As long as we are able. We are moving to our summer estate there."

He stood now and started pacing across the room. "Moving? Why did I not know this?"\

Indeed why, she wondered. She did tell him she had snuck out to bid them goodbye, had she not? She couldn't remember now.

"We haven't seen you in months, Edward," Sophie admonished. "How were we supposed to tell you?"

He stopped pacing and spun to face them. "So, if I had arrived here to visit, say, next week, all I would have found was an empty house. Is that what you're telling me?" he demanded.

Harold looked bashful, but Sophie nodded resolutely.

"Yes. We would have left a forwarding address in a message for you to find, of course."

Edward glared at them. "So that's it, you would have just let me flounder around looking for you?" He shook his head and stalked out of the room.

Isabella looked after him in shock. She understood his anger, but he was furious. A bit of an overreaction if she did say so. How could he have expected them to send message to him if he were never in the same place? She didn't know much, if anything, about this Edward Cullen, but from what she did know, he was a thief and from that she could gather that he never stayed in the same place for long. Did he even have a home? She doubted it. Men like him were the travelling sort, though his travels were much less honest than other men she knew.

The tree turned to her then.

"Isabella, I would never have expected you to go along with this willingly. You do know that Hunter is a possessive man. He will not take too kindly to your leaving," Sophie said.

She bit her lip. No matter how hard it was going to be to explain, she was left with no other choice now. "Lord Hunter intended to bed me the following night and I took the chance I had to escape him."

Sophie frowned and Harold sighed.

"And you thought Edward Cullen was the better option?" Alice asked, pulling a face. While Isabella didn't know for sure, she could guess that Alice was not fond of Edward Cullen.

"Yes," she asserted. She had no doubt in her mind about that. About what she had gotten herself into, yes. About what kind of man Edward Cullen was, yes. But she was not in any way uncertain of the choice she had made between them. Lord Hunter was a terrifying, primitive and violent man. Nothing good, nothing at all, could come from him bedding her. The thought alone made her want to vomit.

"Well, either way you cannot stay here. Lord Hunter would find you in a heartbeat," Sophie said.

"You're kicking her out?" Alice cried.

She rolled her eyes at Alice. "Of course not. Rosalie had been friends with Isabella since childhood and her parents were dear friends of ours. We would not kick her out."

Alice and Isabella sighed with relief.

"I would much rather you go back to Lord Hunter," Sophie started. At Isabella's dismayed expression, she continued. "But I will not force you back into a horrible choice, a horrible fate. How would you like to come to France with us?"

It was more than she could have asked for, but she just simply couldn't afford it and she was not going to take their money.

"I cannot. I don't have the money and I cannot take yours."

Sophie smiled. "Don't worry about that dearest. Edward's going to pay. He did take you after all."

That, Isabella could live with. She did not mind taking money off a thief.

"In that case, I would be happy to join you. Thank you so much." She felt like crying, but denied her tears. She wasn't going to cry in front of people, no matter how well she knew them.

"Alice will show you to the guest room," Sophie said. "We leave at sunrise for the docks."

* * *

In the early morning light, the docks shone with seawater of its hard polished wood decks. It was a sight to see.

]Isabella stood next to Rosalie, her small frame draped in one of Rosalie's gowns. This one was a light yellow, a colour that Isabella thought suited her nicely. It was finer than anything she had worn this past year, but more familiar to her than anything she had worn in that year. It reminded her of her childhood.

Rosalie was a sight to be seen, but that was nothing unusual. Rosalie was always a sight. She was tall skinny, which one would have thought would've made her a little unattractive, as Isabella's own bony frame did for her, but Rosalie managed to make it look beautiful, wrapping herself in the finest clothes of all colours. Every frock she owned managed to add more to her figure rather than take away from it, a feat Isabella herself could never manage. If Rosalie was not so kind to her, she may have hated her, but Isabella had known Rosalie from childhood, and while she may have been a little vain, Rosalie had never done anything to Isabella that could ever make her hate her.

Edward stood at the front of the group. He was dressed finely, but she was sure he was wearing the same clothes he had been wearing the previous evening. He had been silent and distant all morning, something that Isabella was grateful for. The last thing she wanted to deal with was him. She didn't even know why he was coming as he very obviously didn't want to, but when Sophie had announced to him over breakfast that morning that Isabella would be accompanying them to France and he would be paying for it, all he gave was a huff and a nod.

He really was a mystery to her, one that she was not really interested in unraveling.

Alice stood with two other maids behind them with their bags. Isabella herself did not have any luggage since she had left in such a hurry from the Hunter estate, but there was nothing of personal value she was sad to leave behind. The only possession she had managed to keep when her parents died was her necklace, which she wore at all times. Everything else were meaningless things she had acquired over her time as a maid.

Sophie and Harold stood beside their daughter. They made quiet conversation between themselves as they waited with the other passengers for the ship to start boarding.

"He really is arrogant is he not?" Rosalie asked.

Isabella turned to her questioningly.

"Edward," she clarified. "He is very arrogant."

Isabella didn't know what to say. She knew Edward was snappy, a bit rude, very much crude and had no idea of manners or politeness whatsoever, but she wouldn't call him arrogant.

"What makes you say that?" she asked.

Rosalie shifted the umbrella she was using to cover the sun, though there was none to be seen in the sky this morning yet. "The way he acts, the things he says. He is so sure of himself all the time, never letting anyone else get the better of him." She motioned to him standing in front of them where he could surely hear every word they spoke. "Just look at the way he stands apart from us. He acts like he's better than us already, as if it would be shameful to be seen standing beside us. Tell me that is not arrogant behaviour."

"I think he's just angry," she said.

Rosalie scoffed quietly. "Then he must be constantly angry."

Before Isabella could reply, the plank on the ship was lowered and passengers started filing on.

"Here we go," Harold announced, giving them all an excited grin.

The group shuffled towards the ship with the rest of the passengers, slowly forming to a line. To Rosalie's vocal displeasure, they were towards the back of the line which promised a long wait.

Isabella didn't mind so much. She was no longer exposed to the chill thanks to all the layers she now had on and he was quite used to being on her feet for hours at a time. While she was impatient to be on the ship having only been a few times before, she could wait a while longer. She had more than enough time to be on the ship after all.

Just as they were about to take their place on the plank, a hand grabbed her arm.

Looking up wildly, she met the stare of Emmett McCarthy.

"You cannot be running away that quickly, little lady."

* * *

_Note: I'll try very hard to edit the next chapter soon so I can get it to you all. Thanks for reading!_

_Also, if you notice any spelling or grammar mistakes, please tell me. Note here that I am from Australia so the spelling may differ. _


	3. Chapter 3

_Note: This chapter is dedicated to jemster23 for her awesome reviews. You don't know how much they mean to me._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight in any form whatsoever. Besides having a copy of the books which I bought from Big W, I am merely sitting at a computer screen writing non for profit fanfiction. I do not mean any harm with this story._

* * *

**Chapter Three **

_Edward_

"Edward!"

Hearing the distressed scream behind him, he spun around. Isabella stood at the edge of the plank, the head guard of the Hunter estate latched onto her arm.

_What in earth is _he_ doing here?_

Rushing into action, he crossed the few steps between then and glared at the man. Though he was much larger than he himself was, Edward wasn't afraid. He had been in too many brawls with men much larger to be afraid.

"Let her go," he snarled.

McCarthy glared at him. "You are in no position to be giving orders thief!"

"Something can not be stolen if it is not owned," Isabella snapped, pulling feebly on her arm.

"You're under Lord Hunters employment. You are his maid and you're living in his estate. Do you not follow every order he has day in and day out?"

Isabella simply glared at him, not ceasing her struggles.

"She is mine," Edward growled. "Give her back to me and I will let you walk away." Not that the idea had any appeal to him, but he would let this man walk away if it meant getting Isabella back and safe.

She was his, goddamn it.

McCarthy opened his mouth to reply, but they were interrupted before he could.

"Is there a problem here gentlemen?"

Not even glancing at the crewman, he shook his head.

"I would hope not. Do you have tickets?"

"Yes, sir," he bit out.

"Than would the group of you please get on the ship? You're holding up the line."

Realizing he was right, Edward stepped closer to Isabella and removed McCarthy's hand from her arm. Glaring at him, he turned and strode onto the ship behind the Hales, pulling Isabella along behind him.

"Edward he's following us," Isabella whispered desperately.

"There's nothing we can do about that." Unfortunately. "Let him follow. I'll deal with him later."

Oh, how he would deal with him later.

Once on the ship, Sophie rushed over to them and cupped Isabella's face in her hands. "Are you hurt?"

Isabella shook her head. "No." But her glance at her already reddening arm gave away her lie to Edward.

"Sophie, would you accompany Isabella to the day room we've been assigned?"

Sophie looked up at him for a moment, studying his face. "Perhaps Isabella would like to join Rosalie and I for tea?" She looked back to Isabella with a smile.

Isabella nodded thankfully. "That would be wonderful."

The three of them set off towards the stairs leading down into the ship, Alice and the maids following after them with their bags.

Harold raised an eyebrow at Edward. "Yours?"

Edward shot him a nasty glare. "Shut it."

Harold didn't reply, but Edward heard him chuckle.

Edward spun to face McCarthy as he walked up behind them from the plank. Edward was furious that their interaction had managed to get McCarthy on without a ticket. Finally, he thought they were safe from Hunter, but he had spoken too soon. This man would be following them and telling Hunter where they were at all times, he knew that. It didn't matter that Isabella was only a maid, though he couldn't fathom anyone going through so much trouble for one girl, even if she was Isabella.

She was brave, beautiful, endearing and cute as a baby kitten, but nevertheless, she was still just a girl. Why would Hunter be willing to chase them across the Channel to get her back?

Although he was ready for another confrontation, McCarthy didn't offer one. He merely smirked as he stalked right by them to the railing of the ship, overlooking the ocean. He had all the time in the world to get Isabella back, Edward knew that.

Edward also knew he would have to get rid of this man, and oh, how he would relish in it. If he couldn't shake him off, he would be forced to use violence to disable him enough for them to get away. He had never killed before and he wasn't planning on starting today, but he would keep Isabella with him at all costs. He had no idea why this was so important to him, but in the last few hours, it had become paramount to his existence. It infuriated him. The last thing he wanted to do was go to France, but he found there was no other choice. If Isabella was going, then he must go along as well. Standing on the docks, he had considered leaving her with the Hales. She would be safe, he knew, but he couldn't bring himself to walk away from her. It was confusing and beyond irritating. Would he be forced to spend the rest of his days following this woman around like a puppy? He hoped not.

Edward stalked over to the railings a few meters away from McCarthy. While he would much rather be in the sitting room, he was not willing to let this man out of his sights. Until the ship set off to sail, there was too much he could do. Even then, Edward did not trust him. A million scenarios ran through his head, all involving McCarthy hurting Isabella in some horrific way. One other scenario, this time a memory, took over his vision. Two people stood up against a building, a man and a woman. Edward shook that off as well.

If he, or anyone else, touched Isabella, Edward could promise them pain. She was his.

* * *

_Isabella_

Although it had only been a year, Isabella could not remember how to act during morning tea.

She shouldn't be holding her cup like this, should she? But then again, she was taught all about the correct placement for pinky fingers. She most likely looked as if she were having a fit the way her hand was moving now, but nobody was looked at her funnily, so she was assured that she must have been moving correctly.

"His name is Royce King," Rosalie was telling her. "I have not yet seen him in person but he assures me in his letters that he is very handsome. Apparently, he has many admirers in Paris."

Isabella wanted to snort at that. "And you believe him?"

Rosalie looked over at her with confusion and pity. "Why would he lie? Really, Isabella, I will be seeing him in week anyways. If he did lie, then I will know immediately will I not? Therefore, he has no reason to lie." Rosalie took a sip of her tea as if the matter was resolved.

Isabella wanted to say more but she knew it was not worth it. Once Rosalie was convinced of something, it would take a sign from the heavens to convince her otherwise. All she could do know was wait and see if this Royce King was as incredibly vain as he sounded.

"They are to be married in the next month," Sophie gushed. "He is a viscount, you know. Moved over from England as a tiny boy. Can you not just imagine it? My daughter is marrying a viscount."

The idea would have excited Isabella once, but she had been working for a Baron for a year now and she knew what they were like. Lords were not anything special. That this one grew up in France was not going to make any difference whatsoever.

"Where is Alice?" Isabella asked.

Both women looked over at her in confusion.

"Alice? Why ever so?" Rosalie asked.

Isabella shrugged, not wanting to admit the truth; that she was quickly getting bored of tea and gossip.

"Alice is attending to our bags in the next room with the other maids," Sophie answered. "I am sure she's fine."

Isabella put her cup down. "I think I'll go and find an alternate pair of slippers. These ones pinch my toes." Not a lie but it wasn't the reason she was leaving.

Appeased by her answer the two women nodded and went back to their conversation about Royce as Isabella hurriedly escaped from the sitting room into the bedchamber.

As Sophie had said, Alice and the two other maids were arranging the belongings of the Hale family into the drawers and closets provided on the boat. Isabella did not see the sense in this as the ship would be docking by the evening anyways. Taking a glance around the room, she saw Edward's two bags sitting on a corner, untouched.

"Bella," Alice greeted. She came up and pulled her into a hug. "I am so glad you came."

Isabella hugged Alice back. Although Rosalie had been her friend for many years, Alice had been more of a friend than Rosalie in the same amount of time. Alice was born to a maid already serving under the Hale family so it was predestined that Alice would follow. From birth Alice had been living life as a maid.

"You have no idea how glad I am Alice." If she had to spend another minute in that house she was sure she would have gone mad.

Alice pulled back. "Now, you will be explaining to me why on earth you are travelling with Edward Cullen," she ordered.

"Indeed you will be," Mary said from behind Alice.

"I told you before Alice." She sat down on the bed. "I thought he was the better option. Besides, he didn't give me much of a choice."

Mary frowned. "Rude that boy is. He didn't harm you did he?"

Isabella looked up at her, horrified. "Of course not! Why would you say such a thing?"

Alice sat down beside her. "Edward Cullen has been associated with this family as long as you have Bella. We have been around to see how he acts."

"He left poor Miss Rosalie first chance he got," Mary huffed.

Isabella snapped her head towards Mary. "What do you mean?" Her stomach started churning in wait for her answer. She did not like the thought of Edward with someone else at all.

"He was betrothed to her four years back. Seventeen they both were. An old age to be getting married, but Mr. Hale would not let her out of his sight until she was at least sixteen." Mary shook her head in amusement.

Isabella felt sick. Edward and Rosalie had been due to get married? "Why did they not marry?"

"Apparently, our Miss Rosalie was not good enough for him. He made up excuses, her committing horrible sins, just to get out of the marriage. When he refused to marry her, his parents cast him out of the family. A dark day it was in this house. Poor Miss Rosalie was in tears for weeks."

She had known that Rosalie was due to get married, but at the time she had been travelling with her parents to visit her Uncle in Ireland. By the time she had gotten back, Rosalie was no longer getting married and everyone refused to talk about it in fear it would set Rosalie off again. She had no idea it was Edward that she was supposed to be marrying. She did not even know him before yesterday.

The entire situation made no sense to her. In the short time she had known him, she could not imagine Edward being so cruel as to break off a marriage based on horrid lies. Nor could she imagine Rosalie being so distraught over something to cry for weeks. Rosalie would never allow herself to cry at all, let alone for that long of a period of time. Also, she had not seen any reaction out of the two of them towards each other since this morning. They acted like strangers not two people who had once thought they would marry.

Though one part of the story did make sense. If his parents had cast him out of the family, then he would have needed to find a way to make money. She couldn't imagine Edward working for someone. He was too much of a leader for that. He liked to tell people what to do not follow the orders of someone else. Though she still did not agree with the morality of what he did, she could now understand somewhat why he became a thief.

And she had found out how old he was, only three years her senior. For reasons she was too ashamed to admit, that pleased her immensely.

She was really starting to hate how her body betrayed her.

* * *

Paris was not anything like she had imaged.

In the evening light, it looked very similar to London. The same cobblestone was used in the streets and roads, the same rain and the same clouds. People still wandered the streets huddled against the rain. In that aspect, it wasn't any different.

The architecture however, was vastly different. While the shops and streets looked the same, she could see grand structures in the distance overhead, unlike anything she had seen in London. She would have to travel there. Maybe she could convince Rosalie and Sophie to make a day of it.

Isabella was glad to be back inside a carriage. The last time she had been in one was with her parents. Lord Hunter owned many carriages but maids were not permitted to use them under any circumstances. She had walked wherever it was she needed to go even if her destination was right across London. She had almost forgotten how wonderful it was just to relax and watch as the world outside went by.

It was crowded inside though, with the three Hales cramped onto one seat while Edward sat next to her. Because of this, Alice and the other maids rode of the front of the carriage outside with the driver. She felt incredibly sorry for them, having to sit outside in the rain, but there was just no help for it.

Conversation was short in the carriage. Rosalie had finally run out of things to sat about her betrothed and Sophie and Harold were content to sit in silence. Edward, she was sure, would have struck up conversation but he was too focused on watching Emmett McCarthy riding on his own horse outside the carriage.

Thinking of that man, she let out a shiver. He terrified her to no end and it wasn't just because she knew he was working for Lord Hunter. Even if he was not, she was sure his size alone would have terrified her. She was glad Edward was here. She knew Harold would not hold a candle to the head guard in a fight and while she was not sure Edward could triumph either, she was more sure of his abilities than her own or anyone else's.

She didn't think she could survive a few hours like this. The Hale estate lay in the countryside outside of Paris and it was going to be a long ride to get there. While she had never seen France before, even the views had to get boring after an hour of so.

As she predicted, it was a long carriage ride. They left Paris behind not long after they arrived and were left with rolling hills of green and country houses for the next few hours. Conversation was silent the entire ride, only a small comment from either Rosalie or Sophie breaking the silence. The further out they went, the larger and further apart the houses got. Isabella found a dry humour in this.

Not a moment too soon, they turned down a long dirt road that led them to a pair of iron gates. A stonewall sprouted off from these iron gates and through them Isabella could see rolling green hills leading up to a large manor house. Behind the manor house were more hills far past her eyes could see. It was by far the largest estate she had seen, though Lord Hunter was limited by the space the city provided. Here in the French countryside, there was no limit of space.

"Wow," she murmured.

"It's something is it not?" Edward commented from beside her.

"Why did they live in London when they could have been living here?"

Edward shrugged. "There's more of a social circle in London than there is here. You can imagine how hard it is to attend a society gala when you live in the outskirts of Paris."

Isabella conceded that he did have a point, though why someone would imagine a gala was more important than this was beyond her.

"We thought that with our only daughter about to be married that it was time to move here permanently. After she's secure, we will have no more reason to follow the social circles," Sophie explained.

The carriage took them right up to the manor house, the circular road in front of the house allowing the carriage to depart back around once they were all out and their luggage had been collected.

"Katelyn," Sophie called. The young maid turned. "Will you kindly show the driver to the carriage house?"

When she scurried off, Sophie turned to Alice and Mary. "Would you both kindly take the bags up to the rooms? Oh, and show Edward and Isabella where they will be staying."

"Sophie," Edward broke in. "Are you sure it's a good idea for me to be staying?"

Sophie studied him for a moment. "You will be fine here. Stop running."

Isabella was confused. Why should they not be running? Emmett McCarthy was just outside the gates and it seemed he was not going far until Lord Hunter arrived for her. It seemed that all they should be doing was running.

"What about the Hunter guard?" she asked.

Sophie waved her hand at her question. "He cannot stay there indefinitely. He will have to leave at some point. You can make your departure then. For now, you will both be staying here." She had a no nonsense tone. Isabella knew that she would not be swayed on this.

Alice and Mary collected the bags and led them inside the house. It was large house. The entrance hall alone had to be bigger than their house in London. The lights shone brilliantly off the shiny surfaces making everything gleam. A large staircase stood off on the far wall, spiraling upwards to the second floor. The staircase alone took up an enormous amount of space.

Isabella and Edward followed the two woman up the staircase. Isabella offered to help with the bags, but she was declined. So used to carrying the luggage herself, it was hard to step back into the role of a lady.

_I'd do it for him though_, she thought suddenly, glancing at the man beside her.

On the second floor, Alice pointed out the rooms in the large hallway.

"This room is Miss Rosalie's. Mr. and Mrs. Hale have rooms on the top floor. You both will be sleeping in any of the empty rooms on the second floor," she instructed while her mother put Rosalie's many bags inside her room.

"Where will you and Mary be sleeping?" she asked.

Alice looked bashful. "We sleep on the ground floor, Bella. There are maids quarters there."

Isabella wanted to argue, but she knew it would be pointless. Dear friend or not, Alice was still a maid.

Alice handed over Edward's two bags and then followed her mother up the staircase towards the second floor to deliver the last of the bags to their rooms.

"So," Edward smirked. "What are your feelings on sharing a room with me?"

Isabella balked. She would not be sharing a room with him. It was too improper. They were not even betrothed, and even if they were they would not be sharing a room anyway.

"That…is not an option," she choked out.

He pouted, an expression that looked very ridiculous on his usually so serious face. "I can promise you will enjoy it. Please?"

She glared at him. Even though there was a small part of her that knew she would enjoy it, she was trying very hard to block out the small part of her mind that was influenced by her traitorous body.

"I will not be sharing a room with you." She crossed her arms.

He stalked closer to her and she backed up in response until her back hit the wall. "Please," he whispered, running his nose up the side of her neck.

She was momentarily distracted. "No," she murmured, much less forceful than she was before.

He continued his circuit up and down her neck before making a detour to her earlobe. "Please?" He brought to lobe between his teeth.

She shuddered, her body again ignoring commands from her brain. What was happening to her?

"You will not regret it," he promised, his lips against her ear.

There was no space between them now and she could feel every single place his body touched hers. She imagined this was what flying felt like – dangerous and exhilarating.

A throat cleared beside them.

"This is not inappropriate at all," Rosalie remarked scornfully,

With a gasp, Isabella moved out from between Edward and the wall. "Rosalie…I…"

"No, no, do not explain. I am very sure it is not something I want to know about anyway." Rosalie turned then and disappeared inside her room.

Oh, no. Was she mad at her for interacting with the man she would have once married? Isabella was suddenly disgusted with herself. No matter the doubts she had with the story Mary had told her, she knew Edward was once to marry Rosalie. Why had she not considered her friends feelings?

"What am I going to do?" She muttered to herself.

"Well," Edward said. "You could always loose your worries in bed." She did not need to look at him to know he was grinning at her.

Suddenly, she was furious at him. Spinning to face him, she cried, "Does it not worry you at all that your previous betrothed just caught you…_seducing me_?" The last part came out in a whisper.

Edward lost all his seductive charm. "How do you know about that?" he asked harshly.

She reeled back from his anger. "Alice told me."

He clenched his jaw. "It is none of Alice's business. It is none of _your_ business."

"None of my business? How can the previous exploits of the man who intends to bed me be none of my business?"

A fire ignited behind his eyes. "Just stay out of it. The past is the past. Who cares about her? She does not even deserve my thoughts after what she did!"

Isabella paused. What was it that Mary had said? That he had made up vicious lies about Rosalie to get out of marrying her?

"What did she do?" she asked cautiously.

He pinched his nose, closing his green eyes from her view. He was silent for a moment. "It doesn't matter now," he said finally. "She is marrying Royce King. Let him deal with her transgressions."

She wanted to ask more, but she sensed the conversation was over. He was not going to say any more on this. It obviously was a sore spot for him. Whatever the reason for the end of their relationship, it was not because of Edward being cruel. This was as much of a hardship for him as it had been for Rosalie obviously. That knowledge was a relief to her. She had not liked to think that Edward had been cruel to her just to get out of a marriage arrangement that did not suit his fancy.

"I should wash up before dinner."

Edward nodded and lowered the hand from his nose. "Yes, of course. I shall see you tomorrow. We will be discussing our next course of action then."

"You are not coming to dinner?" The thought upset her. After his actions before, all her desire for him should be gone, but alas it remained.

He gave her a rueful smile. It was shaky at best. He was still angry at her. "No."

She wanted to apologize for upsetting him but she didn't know how. She was saved from having to however when he turned away, giving her one last look before he closed the door behind him.

Standing alone in the hallway for a moment, Isabella felt alone. One of her best friends was angry at her, the other did not approve of the choice she had made, Mr. and Mrs. Hale were not the confidents she needed and she had just fought with the only person who seemed wholly content in her company.

All she could no know was wash up for dinner and hope for the best. So straightening her posture, she opened the door to the room beside the one Edward had gone into.

It really was a beautiful room. Decorated in tones of gold, it was larger than anything she had lived in before. The bed rested to her right. It was large with many pillows and brown bed sheets. Many pillows rested against the wooden headboard. She wanted to fall into them and get lost in their depths.

The far wall had a large window that led to a balcony. It was small, but she could still see herself watching the morning and evening skies there.

A vanity and dresser sat on two sides of a doorway that she assumed housed a bathroom. Only once in her life had she owned a personal bathroom. She had to admit, it must have been one of the things she missed most in this past year. Having to share a bathroom with ten other women was not an ideal situation.

Knowing that she didn't have another dress to change into for dinner, she carefully removed the one she was wearing and laid it on the bed. Unable to remove the corset herself, she left it and her underclothes on. She would have to go into town to get more dresses to wear, not that she had much money to use. There was also the problem of it being British currency, but she figured that she could get it exchanged in town.

Once she had sponged off and fixed her hair again, she dressed again and prepared to go down for dinner.

Finding the dining room did not prove to be much of a challenge and from there she easily found the kitchen at the back of the house. Inside, Alice, Mary and Katelyn were working over dinner. If she had not been a maid herself, she would have wondered how they got everything done so quickly. She knew know that it was just a matter of necessity; they got everything done so quickly because they needed to. It was as simple as that.

"How much longer until dinner?" she asked.

Alice turned and gave her a weak smile. "Another half an hour I guess."

Concerned for her friend, she offered to help.

"Nonsense," Mary admonished from across the room. "You go back and explore the house. We will deal with dinner."

Still not sure she slowly backed out of the room. "Are you sure?"

"Go." Mary shooed her out with a spoon.

Isabella walked back out into the great hall. Where to go next? She had already seen upstairs and there was not anything interesting to see up there but bedchambers and sitting rooms. With that in mind, she decided to see what the ground floor had to offer.

Besides the dining room, which housed a long table that could most likely seat dozens of people, and the kitchen, there was a parlor, a sitting room and a room in the front of the house that only had a small table in it that she guessed was used as a tea room. There were studies and rooms that just housed paintings inside. There was the maids quarters, which even Isabella had to admit were very nice, nicer than what she had been living in at the Hunter estate in any case. Nothing held her attention long, though the paintings were quiet interesting, most being of long dead Hale descendants.

But at the very right side of the house at the end of a long hallway Isabella found a great, old, dusty library.

She walked slowly into the room taking in the bookcases that covered every available inch of wall space. Directly opposite the grand oak doors was a huge stone fireplace. A rolling ladder sat unused against the bookshelves so someone could reach the higher shelves. Couches and rugs covered the floors just waiting for someone to use. It was more than she could have ever imagined. The Hunter estate had a library, but not one as big as this. Even as a child her family library did not even compare to this.

It was heaven.

Reverently, she went over to brush her fingers against the spins of the books. They came away with dust. How long had it been since these books had been read? She felt pity for them. What good was a library if it wasn't being used?

"I used to spend hours here as a young boy," a voice commented from behind her.

Jumping, she spun to see Harold standing in the doorway. "I'm sorry. I did not mean to intrude."

He shook his head and waved a hand for her to continue. "Oh, no. You're not intruding. It's a family library. Feel free to borrow any books you fancy. They may be dusty though. Rosalie and Sophie never were one's for reading and I just haven't been able to find the time in the past few years."

Smiling in thanks, Isabella continued to browse the books in front of her. She imagined it would take more than a curious glance to find something that struck her fancy. Maybe she could return after dinner.

"I think dinner is being served," Harold prompted. "Shall we?" He swept his arm towards the doors.

Smiling, she exited the library, promising herself that she would return tonight and if not then, tomorrow morning. She had a feeling she would be spending many days and night reading there by the fire.

As he promised, Edward was not at dinner. It was a silent affair for her despite all the conversation. Rosalie was studiously ignoring her and engaging her parents in conversation, which left Isabella with no one to talk to. Alice was with the other maids eating in the kitchen. Isabella found herself wishing to be there. It was a surprising thought; until a year ago she had not even entertained the idea of eating with the maids. She should have been glad to be back to eating in the dining room, but that was not the case.

She guessed the saying that you always wanted what you couldn't have rang true after all.

* * *

_Note: From what I could gather, the ranking order of Lords and other officials in Britain is as follows, with Baron being the lowest. I also read somewhere that only a Baron and a Viscount were formally addressed as a Lord, though the others, apart from a duke, were informally addressed as such. _

_Baron, viscount, earl, marquess, duke._

_Please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. I only did some quick research after all._

_I'd really appreciate a review. Yes, I can see the reader counts, I know there's more of you out there. Don't be scared, I wont bite. I just want to know what you think about this little story. It is my first multi chapter fanfic. I'm a little scared._

_I'll update soon, I promise. Before the end of the week definitely. I go back to school next week and I'll be in year twelve, my last year, so I want to finish posting the story before I get into week three or so, which is when I anticipate I'll start loosing all my free time._

_Thanks for reading!_


	4. Chapter 4

_Note: The response for last chapter was great. Much better than the first two chapters. Thank you all who took the time to review. Every single one of you had such fantastic words so say, and while there's not an awful lot of you, I'm just glad I have that many. Thanks a ton._

_The chapters are most definitely going to come at a slower pace from here one out. I go back to school on Tuesday (last year, eek!) so my days will be taken up. Along with the read throughs, I have to add a few scenes as I go so I haven't added an element into the story only to let to drop and leave you hanging. I hope you'll work with me here with the editing process. Rest assured that I won't drop this story. It is already completed._

_So here's the next chapter. If you run across an stay 'he' 'she' mi ups, I'm very sorry. I can't find them all. I only did a quick scan through on this for now. I don't have the time or energy to do a full read through, but I want to get this out. I edit later, later. More to say on the content of this chapter at the end._

_Disclaimer: I disclaim any ownership of Twilight, its characters, themes, plots, etc. I really don't mean to steal Stephenie's toys, I just think they're better than mine._

* * *

**Chapter Four**

_Edward_

Even after being interrupted by Rosalie, of all people, Edward still desired to kiss Isabella and then lure her into bed with him.

He could hardly get to sleep with thoughts of Isabella swirling around inside his head. He knew that if he were to sleep she would occupy his dreams as well. It was a cruel punishment. It was bad enough that it would take a miracle to get her into bed with him but now he was plagued with her constantly on his mind as she was not before their near kiss outside in the hallway.

Groaning he turned over in his bed again to face the windows. He had swept the curtains open before he went to bed leaving him with an unobstructed view of the night sky. The moon was directly overhead now as he could see it reflected in the pond that sat on his balcony. At this rate, he was never going to sleep.

Getting out of bed, he opened the windows and stepped through onto the balcony. Maybe some cool night air would help him sleep. He doubted it, but it was worth a try at this point.

What was he going to do? Isabella desired him that much was certain now. But he knew she was not going to act on that desire. Not without a little prompting of course. But it was what he would do after he finally managed to bed her, as failure was not an option, that he was uncertain of. Before McCarthy had arrived, he was sure he would have just left, certain that his desire for her would fade after a night spend with her. Even if he was sure of that now or not, McCarthy's presence posed a problem in this plan. He could not just leave Isabella with the Hales to deal with Hunter on her own. He had gotten her into this situation after all. But how was he going to deal with Hunter all by himself? He also did not want to risk staying around Isabella any longer than he had to. He desired her more than he had desired anyone else. What could that desire turn into given the right amount of time? He did not want to find out. He was a traveler. A thief. That was not the life a woman like Isabella wanted. Any romantic interaction with her could only end in heartbreak.

Her wanting to know about his past with Rosalie was the first sign. No other woman had wanted to know where he had come from, what he had done or even his full name, but Isabella wanted to know his past. She wanted to know about his betroth to Rosalie. He had not told anyone about that. Not once. What was worse though was that he was tempted for a moment to actually tell her. Something inside of him wanted her to know what had happened. Anything Alice and Mary had told her he knew would be lies. They didn't know the full story. Only Sophie and Harold knew the full story, besides Rosalie. It was the only reason they had let him back into their lives after his parents had kicked him out. They just had not believed the truth. Why would they? Rosalie was the perfect little lady.

He wanted Isabella to know the truth but he knew that was not an option. Telling her that would only bring her closer to him, something that he could not afford. Once this was all over and she was safe, he would be leaving as he did every time. He did not want to leave her with heartache.

He did not need any more hurt in this life.

* * *

_Isabella_

Edward was at breakfast the next morning.

Isabella had come down to breakfast, dressed in the outfit she had worn the day before though it was dirty, to see Edward seated at the dining table with the Hales. He and Rosalie were seated as far apart as possible without being obvious, she noticed. Sophie and Rosalie were deep in conversation about something or other while Harold and Edward were planning a hunting trip. She was not sure about the hunting laws in France but she trusted that they knew what they were doing.

She found herself a seat opposite Edward. He spared her a glance and a quick smile before he went back to his conversation. While she found it a little odd that he had been so polite, she brushed it off. It was not completely out of character for him, just not what she was expecting after last night.

They were part way through breakfast when Alice came into the room. "Pardon me, but you have guests in the main hall," she said.

"Who is it?" Sophie asked.

"Lord and Lady Cullen, miss."

Isabella's eyes went wide and her eyes shot over to Edward who had sat up straight in his seat at the news. His eyes were narrowed, glaring at the wall behind her.

Sophie noticed his reaction as well and after a worried glance towards him she instructed Alice to bring them into the dining room.

"Yes, miss."

Not a moment later three people entered the room. Two were obviously the Lord and Lady Cullen. The Lady had Edward's hair colour and his eyes while the male had blonde hair and blue eyes. The young man with them had the Lords blonde hair and blue eyes. He was clearly their other son.

Sophie and Harold stood to greet the couple.

"What a surprise! We were not expecting you so soon." Sophie stood respectfully in front of the couple. Though her tone was pleasant, her posture was formal and stiff. There must be old feuds between the two, Isabella mused.

Lady Cullen smiled. "Yes, Jasper told us he saw you arriving while he was in town yesterday and we thought that since it had been so long since we last saw you, we would not waste time with appropriates."

Edward stood up quickly then, sending his chair falling back to the floor. He stormed out of the room, not even glancing at his parents as he went by.

Everyone except for Rosalie, who had continued on with her breakfast as if nothing had interrupted her, looked after him.

"Isabella dearest, would you go check that he does not take any rash action please?" Sophie requested.

Confused, as this was not a task she would usually be asked of but the maids, the slowly got up. She assumed this must have been to get her out of the room, though she could not imagine why.

Before she could clear the room though, Lord Cullen spoke. "I see you have a new addition to your residence. Who might this be?"

Isabella hesitated by the table, looking towards Sophie for help.

"This is the daughter of a family friend," she simply said. Isabella was glad she did not offer any further details.

Lord Cullen turned towards her then. "Are you staying with the Hales for long?" he enquired.

"That is undetermined as of yet, sir," she honestly replied.

"I really must insist she check on Edward," Sophie broke in.

Lord Cullen looked over at Sophie, silent for a moment.

"Of course. Let the girl go, Carlisle," Lady Cullen said.

Lord Cullen nodded, moving aside for her to pass. Isabella did so gladly. She felt as if she were facing a judge under his gaze. She could see him judging her every second his gaze was on her.

"Is she Edward's wife?" she heard Lady Cullen inquire behind her.

Flushing, she quickly retreated before she could hear any more than Sophie's adamant denial. Not knowing where Edward would retreat to, she decided she would check his room before she ventured anywhere else.

She knocked quietly on the door to his room and when there was no answer, she knocked again. Knowing that he most likely would not answer under the circumstances, she slowly opened the door a little and stuck her head through the check the room.

He was there, leaning on the railings over the balcony. He looked over his shoulder as she came in and seeing her, he sighed. "You may as well come in."

She went over to join him at the balcony. "Sophie sent me to check on you," she said.

"I don't know why she would do that."

"I think it was more to remove me from the room." Isabella matched his posture slumped over the railing. She knew it was not lady like, but right now she was beyond caring. She doubted if Edward noticed or cared anyway.

He frowned. "Why would she want to do that?"

Biting her lip, she admitted, "Most likely so they did not find out who I am. She is kind that way."

He looked over at her then, taking in the sorrowful expression on her face. "What do you mean?"

Looking away from his gaze, she prepared to admit to him what everyone else already knew. It was only fair that he knew her past as she already knew his, though she knew she did not know the full true story.

"My father was the nephew of a Duke, a marquees he was. I was their only child. When he and my mother died they did not have a son to pass their fortune off to so it was given to the closest male kin, an Uncle of mine in Ireland. I am only a daughter you see, so I was left with nothing. That's why I was working for Lord Hunter. I needed money." She sighed, not looking over at him in fear she would see the piteous expression she knew he had. "All I am now is a reminder of my parents failure. The dark mark in my family line, so to say. My family name will never be carried on and everyone knows it."

It was silent for a few minutes then.

"Why did you Uncle not take you in?" he eventually asked. She could hear pity in his voice.

"He did not want anything to do with me."

He growled from beside her, the sound shocking her so much that she looked over at him before she could rethink it. Instead of pity, she found his face full of fury. "Selfish old bastard. I should hunt him down and make him sorry."

"Edward," she gasped, more in reaction to his swearing than his words.

"What? Can you honestly say you do not want him to suffer for what he did to you? He left a girl who had just lost her parents to her own devices. Not to mention that you would have been used to luxury." He was no longer leaning on the railings now but instead over head, his face beside her own.

She ducked her head. "Well, it was an adjustment. But nothing too terrible happened and I got y just fine."

"I am glad I took you," he whispered. "If nothing more than to save you from a fate that should never have been yours."

She felt him brush a tendril of her hair that had escaped behind her ear.

"I am glad as well," she admitted. Though she was sure her reasons were much different from his.

He turned her face towards his with a hand on her cheek. Looking into her eyes, he whispered, "I am going to kiss you now."

When she did not protest, he slowly brought his lips to hers.

In all the times she had imagined him kissing her she never thought it would be with such passion. His lips sought dominance over hers, molding her own lips to the will of his. She was glad for that. She had no idea how to move her lips and was quite happy to let him control the kiss to save her the worrying.

His arms wrapped themselves around her waist, pulling her right up against his body. She could feel her own body react in response to his and was suddenly thankful for Rosalie's torturous explanations of exactly went on between a man and a woman. While embarrassing at the time, at least she was not completely lost now.

She felt his tongue against her bottom lip and gasped in reaction to the unexpected touch. Taking his opportunity, Edward delved inside her mouth, running his tongue alongside hers. It was unlike anything Isabella had ever experienced. How could something so utterly forbidden be so good?

They must have stood there for hours kissing until they were finally forced to break apart for air. He did not loosen his grip around her waist though and Isabella did not remove her hands from his hair, something she had not even realized she had done so lost in the kiss she was.

"Lost for words?" Edward smirked.

He was cocky, even now. He had reason to be though, that she had to admit.

"Just taking in the moment," she lied. The truth was, she had no idea what to say after that.

"You be sure to tell me just how much you enjoyed that when this moment ends, alright?"

She giggled, shaking her head. "You are so incredibly confident in yourself. It is not very attractive."

He tightened his hold around her waist. "May I remind you that you still have your hands in my hair? How much could my _assurance in my abilities_," he was sure to emphasize that part. "Affect your need for me?"

She flushed. Was it so obvious how he affected her? Did that bother him?

"Maybe you are too 'sure in your abilities'?" She did not think that was possible. If he was sure in his abilities, he had good reason to be.

"Never." Again, he smirked.

Suddenly awkward being held like this, Isabella pulled free from his arms and although he let her leave, Edward let out a huff.

"What if I was not finished?"

She shot him a sly glance. "Then you will just have to finish later."

He chuckled.

They were silent then, both leaning over the railing as they had been before. The mid morning sun felt wonderful on Isabella's skin. She was glad it was sunny today. Maybe she could go for a ride around the estate and see the sights. Edward could come with her as well if he wanted to escape from his parents. They could have a picnic.

"Thank you," Edward said.

She looked at him questioningly.

"For sharing your past with me. For coming to comfort me. You did not have to do that, especially after how I treated you yesterday when you asked about mine, but you did anyways. So thank you," he clarified.

Smiling lightly, she said, "I just hope you will return the favour when you're ready to."

"Someone should know the entire truth," he sighed but did not add any more. She didn't mind. When he was ready, she would be listening.

* * *

Alice came up not long afterwards and informed then that Lord and Lady Cullen were summoning them down. Isabella could tell that it was the very last thing Edward wanted to do, but he went. She followed behind him, taking in the tense line of his shoulders.

At the bottom of the stairs they found the Lord and Lady waiting in the grand hall. Edward stopped on the last step and Isabella followed suit. She did not hold any grudge on these people and they were a Lord and Lady so she would be polite, but she was on Edward's side. Always.

"We were hoping you would come back with us to the Cullen estate." While Lord Cullen posed it as a question she could tell that it was really a demand.

"We would love to have you," Lady Cullen added hastily.

The stormy looked did not leave Edward's face. In fact, tit got darker. "While that sounds like a _pleasant_ offer," he bit out. "I promised Isabella I would take her into town today for a little shopping."

Lord Cullen frowned at him and Lady Cullen's face fell.

"I am sure Miss Isabella would not mind if we put off her shopping trip one more day," Lord Cullen reasoned. Not once did he look at her while saying this.

"I am afraid it is a matter of dire importance," Edward argued.

_A shopping trip of dire importance? Maybe the worst excuse possible,_ Isabella mused.

The two men stood across the room staring at each other then. It was a battle of wills, each judging who would stand down first, but she could not tell for the life of her who was wining.

Finally, Lord Cullen cast his eyes towards the roof, leaving Edward the victory. "Be sure to visit after your trip into town," he ordered.

Not answering, Edward took Isabella's wrist and led her along behind him as he stalked back upstairs. "Alice, get the carriage would you?" he called back down to the maid standing on the steps still.

Edward led her all the way into his room before he let go of her wrist. Stalking across the room, he dragged one of his bags out from under the bed and reached inside pulling out a black drawstring bag that clanged as evidence of the coins inside. It was quite large, enough to hold much money, but not too large that he would not be able to conceal it in his coat pocket.

"We are going into town?" she asked.

He nodded. "I noticed that you have been wearing the same dress and since it is because of me you left all your belongings behind, I insist of paying for your new wardrobe."

While she was not happy with the arrangement, she really did not have any other option. Besides, it _was_ his fault after all.

"More like you were just looking for an excuse. I was thinking of taking a picnic today, but shopping is just as good of a getaway as anything." She was incredibly amused when he groaned at her words.

"A picnic would have been a much more enjoyable activity," he admitted.

"Maybe tomorrow," she offered.

"Lets just hope the good weather holds."

He shrugged into a coat that he had visibly thrown onto a chair the night before. Taking her wrist again, he tucked the drawstring bag inside his coat pocket and led her back down the stairs. She did not mind him leading her like this. It way have seemed controlling, but she did not mind him taking the lead. He was not forcing her to go along with him nor was he dragging her. She just imagined he preferred this to holding her hand, though she could not imagine why.

When they arrived back in the entrance hall only Lady Cullen and Alice stood waiting for them.

"The carriage is waiting outside, Mr. Cullen," Alice said. "Did you need me to accompany you?"

Ignoring is mother completely, Edward have her a smile. "That would be wonderful."

Before they could leave, Lady Cullen spoke. "I decided I would much enjoy accompanying you. It had been a while since I had suitable shopping partners." By the look she shot Alice, Isabella knew that maids did not count as suitable shopping partners in her books.

Edward's hand tightened around her wrist. "Are you sure you wish to degrade yourself that way, Lady Cullen," she spat out.

Lady Cullen frowned at him disapprovingly. "I will not be degrading myself. It is very disrespectful for a son not to call his parents mother and father."

Isabella could see the flames behind his eyes. Her wrist was starting to throb with the pressure he was putting on it, but she was not about to draw attention to herself. The last thing she wanted was to get involved in this.

"You lost that right years ago, Lady Cullen." He pulled her out the door behind him then. She jogged to keep up with his fast pace. She could hear Alice behind her jogging as well.

_How is he so fast?_

Helping her into the carriage he made sure she was safely inside before he climbed in himself. Pausing with one foot inside and one hanging mid air, he looked back at his mother following casually behind and at Alice who was climbing up beside the driver.

"Alice," he called. "Come sit inside the carriage. There is no reason for a young woman such as yourself to be so exposed."

They all looked at him as if he had lost his mind. Even Lady Cullen outside stopped in the middle of her stroll as she looked on at Edward with horror and surprise.

Alice herself looked incredibly uneasy. Glancing between Edward, Lady Cullen and Isabella she was silent.

"Come on now," Edward prompted.

Alice slowly climbed inside the carriage and hesitantly perched beside Isabella. The two girls shared a shocked look. Neither knew what to make of this.

Edward sat in front of Isabella and while she looked at him questioningly, he did not even glance at her. Instead, he watched his mother as she climbed inside the carriage with an expression close to triumph.

He did it to make us other angry, Isabella realized.

His plan had obviously worked. Instead of the neutral expression she had worse inside, she now looked furious, glaring out the window beside her. Isabella knew that she could have vetoed this without a second thought, being a Lady and all, but she remained silent.

Isabella knew this was not going to be the fun day she had imagined this morning while on the balcony with Edward.

* * *

_Note: Hope you all liked the romance balcony scene in this chapter. It was a new concept for me to write. Also, what do you think about Bella's story? i know, with her status, or her uncles, it would not be completely realistic, but women weren't valued as highly then as today._

_Sorry about making Edward's parents so horrible. I like Carlisle and Esme very much, but they needed to be mean and I wanted him to be a Cullen. They do have their motives though, however shallow they may be._

_The shopping trip is next chapter. Poor Edward. It's a battle of wills between the Cullens now..._

_(Also, I have to remember to fit in another conversation between Alice and Isabella in the next chapter. Don't let me forget.)_


	5. Chapter 5

_Note: I just thought I'd tell you all that this story will be updating much slower now that I have started year twelve. It will also be updated slower as I have decided to extend this story for a few more chapters as I wasn't happy with how it ended. I didn't feel like I had tied all those ends. I hope you can all bare with me. Stitches will now be around 10 - 15 chapters at my early estimate. I hope this pleases you!_

_Disclaimer: If I owned twilight, I wouldn't be here. Or maybe I would be. But either, way, I do not hold any rights to twilight or any related themes. I do not mean any harm with this story._

_I hope you enjoy this chapter. It's a little on the long side because of my scene shuffling. I'm sure you don't mind though._

* * *

**Chapter Five**

_Isabella_

"Edward, be serious. The green is the height of fashion right now. Why would she get the blue?"

Edward glowered at his mother. "Because the blue looks best with her skin tone."

Lady Cullen rolled her eyes. "The green looks just fine and she will be wearing the most coveted dress of the season. Isabella, turn for us again." Lady Cullen turned to Isabella.

Resisting the urge to refuse, Isabella slowly turned, displaying the green fro-fro dress she was currently wearing. She did not know why this dress was so popular. It was frilly, heavy, hot and the skirt was much to big for her liking. Not to mention that it left her shoulders bare. It was practically indecent!

"See, look how it compliments her. Which one do you prefer Isabella?" Lady Cullen asked.

Isabella hesitated. "They both look the same to me," she said truthfully. They were both horrible in her eyes, though she did like the shade of blue on the other dress. Maybe if she could get the first dress she tried on, a wonderful little thing with sleeves that ended at her elbows, a ribbon at the waist with the ends hanging down the front, the skirt falling straight down in natural waves after the bodice tugged her every curve. From the way Edward had looked at her when she tried it on, she knew he liked it. She herself preferred it to the circus tent she was currently wearing.

Lady Cullen stood up and clapped her hands together. "Then it's settled. Go take it off and we will pay for it. It's my treat."

She cast a pleading look towards Edward but he just rolled his eyes and shook his head. If he thought it was futile to argue this then she knew there was no use for it.

It is only a dress, she thought. It will not be the end of the world if you do not get it. But she really did like that other dress.

When Isabella came back from changing out of the dress, with Alice's help of course, Lady Cullen immediately took the dress from her and went to pay for it. Edward winked at her and took his coat off, setting it on the dress they both liked.

When they left the shop, Isabella was about to point out that he had left his coat behind, but remembering his wink she stayed silent. She trusted he knew what he was doing.

Sure enough, just as they were about to step back into the carriage, Edward stopped, announced he had left his coat behind and went back into the shop to retrieve it. Lady Cullen, Alice and herself continued into the carriage to wait for him. Not a few minutes later, he opened the carriage door, this time carrying his coat.

_What was the point of that?_

"You really are a forgetful soul, Edward," Lady Cullen admonished. "Now, a new boutique opened last week not far from here. We will go there next."

Isabella sighed along with Alice while Edward rolled his eyes. Catching her eye he gave her a rueful smile. They both knew that there was no talking her out of anything. It would have been a good quality if she did not use it against them so often.

This new boutique was smaller than the last one they had been in. Isabella was surprised they managed to fit anything inside at all. Walking into the shop she saw that everything was either lacey or in shades of pink or red. She doubted she would find anything she liked in here.

Lady Cullen walked around with Alice following along behind her instructing one of the staff on which dresses she would like Isabella to try on. The two woman scrambled to collect her choices before Lady Cullen moved onto the next dress. Everything she chose, Isabella knew, was much too fancy for anything but a society event. How many of those did Lady Cullen expect her to attend? Dozens it appeared.

"You would expect with more than twenty boxes in the carriage already one would have enough dresses," Edward commented to her quietly.

"I will never be able to travel with them all when we have to leave," she whispered back.

Edward looked at her questioningly. "Leave?"

She gave him a serious look. "Hunter will be coming for me sooner or later. We have only been here a night but I know Emmett McCarthy will have sent a message to Lord Hunter already. I do not intend to be here when he arrives."

McCarthy had still been waiting at the gate when they left this morning. Edward and him had a brief argument outside the gate before they left, and as much as she had wanted to listen in, she couldn't hear from where she had sat in the carriage. It had looked fierce though and she was afraid Edward would be throwing a punch. McCarthy had rode alongside the carriage the entire way into town and had been on the outskirts of her vision ever since. He was like a bloodhound on the hunt.

What scared her was that she was the prey.

"Yes, there is that." Opening his mouth a few times, he went to say something, but she never found out what it was as he slumped in his seat. He sighed, running a hand through is hair. "I need to shake him off our trail within the next few days, but I have no idea how I am going to do that. McCarthy is going to be hard to trick. Even for me," he admitted, ducking his head as though this were a great shame.

"The master of trickery outsmarted by a mere head guard? No!" she teased. She wanted to question him on what he was about to say before that, she knew it wasn't a good idea. Edward would tell her if she needed to know, she was sure.

"Do not sass me, woman," he growled, looking at her darkly, seductively.

She shivered. Do not sass him indeed.

"Isabella, come here and try these dresses on," Lady Cullen commanded.

The moment broken, Isabella gave Edward a tortured expression before she turned and gave Lady Cullen a bright, fake smile.

"Of course," she replied.

An hour later, Lady Cullen had picked out three more dresses for Isabella. Two were light pink and the third was a deep red. Apparently, they were supposed to be 'the height of fashion' but Isabella had her doubts. They looked more seductive than anything else, especially that red one with the lace, silk, small off shoulder sleeves and body hugging bodice, leaving nothing to the imagination. She could not imagine wearing that out in pubic. What were the women of Paris wearing these days? Did they like walking about nearly naked?

When she had come out from behind the dressing curtain wearing it though, Edward had looked at her, hunger in his eyes. Maybe it would not be completely wasted. The naughty thought had made her flush the colour of the dress.

Finally, Lady Cullen declared it time to head home. Isabella was glad. She had done more shopping today than she could handle and poor Alice looked as exhausted as she with all the running around she had done for Lady Cullen today. Isabella could not wait to relax in the library reading one of the many books.

But where they should have went right on the road, they went left instead. Isabella looked over at Edward questioningly but he was too busy glaring at his mother furiously.

"Why are we going this way? You have had your visit, take us to the Hale estate," he demanded.

Lady Cullen simply looked at him with a mother's patience. "We agreed you would visit after your shopping trip. Your father would be very upset were you not to show up. My presence on your shopping trip was merely to be assured Isabella would be buying the right dresses." Her hands were folded together on her lap. She was the picture of everlasting patience.

"Isabella, Alice and myself are quite capable of choosing a wardrobe."

"Oh clearly." She wore and amused smile now. "If it were not for me, Isabella would be wearing last seasons clothes."

Edward looked like he had something to say about that, but Isabella put her hand on his arm, begging for him to let it go. The last thing she wanted now was more arguing. She was sure there would be plenty of that tonight.

They rode in silence then. Isabella's wrist was now trapped in Edward's hand after he had removed it from his arm. He was tracing a circle around her wrist. It felt good, him touching her so delicately.

"I am sorry," he whispered to her.

"What for?" She turned her attention away from the window to look at his sorrow filled face.

"I busied you," he said forlornly.

She looked down at her wrist in surprise. He was not just tracing her wrist, he was tracing the bruise that circled it. She had not even noticed it was there.

"Oh, I did not notice." She smiled at him reassuringly. "Do not think any more on it, Edward. I am fine."

"If any other man marked you like this I would introduce him to death," he growled, continuing to mourn.

Those violent words should not have excited her, but they did. She loved that he was so protective, so possessive, over her.

"It was an accident," she said. "You did not mean anything by it. Forget it."

He did not say anything more but continued to trace the bruise. She just sighed, figuring he needed time to move on.

It did not take as long as she expected to get to the Cullen estate. It was much closer to town than the Hale estate was, though it was no less large. She could not know for sure, of course, but she would venture to say it was a little larger, but that seemed completely impossible to her. The Hale estate was huge.

The road leading to the main house was much longer here than it was at the Hale estate. Empty fields covered the space on either side of the roads. Isabella could not imagine what they were used for as they were completely empty. As they got closer to the main house she started seeing small houses dotting the sides of the dirt road.

"What are those?" she asked Edward.

"That is where the workers live. The maids have cottages that they live in surrounding the main house so that they do not have to walk to far in the early morning," he explained.

"Why do the maids not live in the main house?"

"Lord Cullen does not approve."

As he had said, cottages surrounded the main house, which was large enough for all the workers to live there with the family without the two ever seeing each other. They were not too small, Isabella had to admit, but she still thought it was a little unfair. They were paid workers after all, not slaves.

Edward helped her from the cottage after Alice, making sure to emphasize this to his mother. Alice just flushed and hurried from his grasp. She knew this kind of treatment was unusual for her.

Four maids hurried towards them from the side of the house, three collecting Isabella's dresses while the forth scurried to open the door for them. The driver took the carriage around towards the back of the house at yet another maid leading him to where she assumed the carriage house was. It was like clockwork, everything working in smooth running order. Isabella would have been impressed if she had not been in yhr maids' place before and known the fear running order like that cost.

Making sure to smile at the woman would held the door open for them, she followed Lady Cullen inside. They entered into a great hall with marble floors and many grand staircases branching off to different levels of the house. The floor was stone, an impressive feat, and there were two fireplaces, one on each side of the room, both surrounded by staircases.

The three maids scurried in behind them, each carrying an armful of boxes. Isabella felt compelled to help them but she knew Lady Cullen would not allow it. She could just hear her now telling her that it was a maid's duty. If only she knew that that was exactly what she was, a maid.

"Dinner should be ready within the hour," Lady Cullen said. "Isabella, you should change into one of your new dresses. One of the maids can help you change."

"Oh, no, that's quite alright. I can dress myself," she protested.

"If you are sure, but if you need assistance, there should be a maid around somewhere. Your dresses would be taken to one of the guest rooms on the second floor."

Just like clockwork.

Not knowing which staircase led where, she turned to Edward. "Would you mind showing me the way?" she asked.

He smiled then, the first real smile he had wore since they were talking in the dress shop. Taking her hand this time, she suspected it was because her wrist was bruised, he led to one of the staircases to the left of the room.

"This takes you to the guest wing of the second floor," he explained.

Once on the second floor, it was not hard to find her room. The three maids who had delivered her dresses were fumbling around inside trying to put them all away.

"Oh, they really do not have to do that," she protested.

"We will not be here long enough anyways. You can return to you usual posts," he called to them.

The three women looked at each other.

"Master Edward, we were instructed to not leave the two of you alone," one said hesitantly.

Smiling firmly at the three women he said, "Lord and Lady Cullen are too paranoid. Leave." There was steel in his voice now.

They nodded and quickly left the room. The boxes they had abandoned lay on the bed, some open and some still firmly shut.

"I have a surprise for you," Edward exclaimed, his dark mood gone for now.

He examined the boxes on the bed for a moment, even opening some, before he apparently came to the correct one. Carrying it over to her, he held it out to her proudly.

Confused, she slowly slid the lid off the box. Inside lay the dress from the second last shop they had went to. The one she had to leave behind because Lady Cullen did not approve of it.

So that was why he had left his coat behind!

"Oh, Edward," she gasped. Lifting it out of the box, she admired it once again. "Thank you!"

Impulsively, she threw her arms around his neck in a hug. Realizing what she had done, she moved to pull back.

"No," he said, pulling her back to him. "I like this position."

She flushed. It was a very intimate position. She had only hugged a few people in her life, not one being male.

"If a dress is all it takes to get you pressed against me, then I may have to surprise you more often," he chuckled.

"They cannot be any worse then some of the dresses she bought me today." Just the thought of having to wear one of those things to dinner was making her dread the entire occasion more than she had been before.

"You should wear this dress down to dinner." Pulling back from their hug, he grabbed the dress from her hands. Isabella briefly lamented the loss of their contact.

"But Lady Cullen with be expecting me to wear a dress she picked for me," she protested.

"Exactly." He grinned at her. "I want to see the look on her face when you arrive wearing an out of date dress."

He really enjoys upsetting his mother, Isabella thought.

"You will have to leave so that I can change."

Taking a moments pause, he scanned her from head to toe. "What if I do not want to," he asked. His words combined with his actions made her shiver, igniting a dark desire in her.

"You have to," she breathed out.

"I do not have to do anything," he growled, stalking closer to her.

She was quite proud that she did not back up this time as she had done last night. "It would not be appropriate."

"Do you know me to care for appropriates?" His hand ran up her arm to cup her cheek. Eyes boring into hers, he brought his mouth closer to hers.

_He is going to kiss me._

She did not know why this surprised her so much. He had kissed her this morning after all. She had known it would happen again sooner or later. But that it was happening again now, so soon after the last time, seemed shocking to her.

This kiss was not as fierce as the last one but it was no less passion filled. Again he took control of this kiss, guiding her as to the correct movements. It spoke of things to come and promises of pleasure she knew that he had every intention of fulfilling.

When they broke the kiss, she was again left gasping. The man had talent, she had to admit. She did not want to think on how a man acquired such talent. It would ruin her good mood.

"Now you really need to leave," she murmured. She expected him to argue, knowing his tendencies of seduction.

"Yes," he agreed, surprising her. "I should wait outside. The last thing we need is for Lady and Lord Cullen to find us in an inappropriate situation."

It really was pathetic that even those words filled her with excitement. The promise of inappropriate situations with Edward was addicting and heavenly.

* * *

_Edward_

Edward left the room and shut the door behind him. Even though he knew he was not strong enough to stay too close by while she was changing, he was loath to go downstairs and possibly encounter his mother or father. Even thinking of them as his parents made his stomach roll, but a childhood of habit could not be broken in four short years.

The last thing he wanted was to spend the night at the Cullen estate, but they really did not have any other choice. To get back to the Hale estate before nightfall they would have to leave now, but there was no way to get around dinner. He was bound to obey the wishes of a Lord and Lady, even more so since he was their son.

He knew dinner conversation would be challenging. Lord and Lady Cullen would want to know all about Isabella. While he himself did not have a care at all what her status was or of her past, he would like her either way, but he knew it would matter to them. Society is strange that way. There would also be unbearable questions over their relationship to each other that he was not willing to answer. He was not sure he even knew himself what they were. He wanted to kiss her, hug her and he most definitely wanted to bed her, but he was not sure of their relationship besides that.

Before he could obsess any more on these thoughts, the door to the guest room opened and Isabella emerged. The dress looked even better than before when she had tried it on in the dress store. The blue against her skin was positively sinful and without all the bows and lace it suited her perfectly.

He did not see what Lady Cullen thought was wrong with it.

"You look delectable," he said.

Blushing, she have him a shy smile. Even that caused to ignite a flame inside him. How could she be so seductive while being so innocent?

"Do you want to look around at the gardens while we wait on supper?" he asked.

He saw interest in her eyes. "That sounds lovely."

He led her back down the staircase to the entrance hall. As there had always been there were maids scurrying around everywhere. He did not know how many maids the Cullen estate had now, but in his childhood they had between thirty and fifty. He had always forgotten the exact number, even as a young adult.

They walked through the many corridors until they reached the doors leading towards the back gardens. When he opened the doors, Isabella gasped from beside him.

"They are magnificent," she told him.

Walking towards the waist high maze, he muttered, "Most likely the only thing my mother got right."

"You called her your mother then," she commented.

Edward clenched his jaw, frustrated that he had shown such weakness to her. "It is a hard habit to break," was all he said.

As they walked casually through the maze, she asked him, "What exactly happened?"

Remembering his promise to tell her the truth when they were on the balcony, he sighed. He did not know if he was ready for someone to know this, if he ever would be ready, "I will tell you mine if you answer me a few questions," he hesitated.

She nodded straight away. She trusted him so completely with her secrets. Foolishly even.

"How did you parents die?"

She sighed then, a miserable, lonely sound. In an attempt to comfort her he took her hand into his. After he had bruised her wrist, he did not trust himself to hold her like that anymore. Though this felt too intimate, too much like a couple in love, he did not want to hurt her again.

"They were robbed in their way back from the theatre. Their carriage with high jacked. When the robbers left, the driver was no longer on the carriage to lead the horses so they went over a cliff." She sighed again. "Father had insisted on going to see this play that was playing in another town. If they had not needed to go through a forest, it would have been fine."

"I am sorry." It seemed he was apologizing more to this woman than he ever had in his life.

"I told my story, now you tell me yours," she demanded, attempting to sway the conversation.

Abiding her wishes, even though he was not finished with his questions, he started. Now was as good a time as any he supposed. "As a boy I had a infatuation with Rosalie. It was nothing major and based on her looks alone," he was quick to reassure as he felt her tense. "I have no idea what she thought of me then, but our parents arranged a marriage between the two of us nonetheless. As we grew and she grew vainer, my infatuation with her faded but we were still due to marry. I admit, even then I was not happy with the arrangement, but I had made my peace with it. How bad could it have been right?" He let out a hard laugh and Isabella smiled up at him and squeezed his hand. "Six months before we were due to marry, I was sixteen at the time just approaching on my seventeenth birthday, I was roaming the streets with a few of my friends, causing trouble and whatnot, when I saw Rosalie. She was with another man. Someone who I thought I could trust."

"Could he not have been a friend?" she questioned hesitantly. She was obviously remembering what everyone had been saying about him making up horrible things.

"Friends do not kiss like they were. He had her against the building in an alleyway beside a small theater. Besides, I knew him. He was an acquaintance of mine and had always asserted that he had no interest in her." The memory still left a bitter taste in his mouth. He had not known to expect a betrayal not only from Rosalie and his parents but one of his friend as well.

"Oh, Edward, I'm sorry!"

He shook his head at her apology. "You have nothing to be sorry for. I did not love her anyway."

"But a betrayal like that is heartbreaking no matter if feelings are involved," she reasoned.

"Yes." He remembered how he had felt at the time; shattered, furious. He did not have any feelings for Rosalie Hale, but her betrayal had hurt nonetheless. He had made his contentment in their match, why could she not do the same?

"So when you told you parents you did not want to marry her because of what she had done, they did not believe you," she summarized.

Sighing at the horrible memories, he nodded. "Yes. They thought I was lying just to get out of the marriage. They had put her on a pedestal because of her beauty and refused to believe that she had done any wrong. They demanded I marry her. We argued for the entire six months leading up to the wedding. When I refused to show up at the church, they had finally had enough and kicked me out of home." To be truthful, the betrayal of his parents had hurt more than Rosalie's. He had not loved her, but he had loved his parents.

They walked in silence again. He was brooding in this thoughts, their conversation having brought the memories to the forefront of his mind. He could feel his mood darken even as they entered into the rose garden.

"So how did the Hales come to accept you back?"

He looked over at her curious face. She truly was interested in his past, he realized. How extraordinary. "I told them the truth. At first I did not want to, fearing that they would react as my parents had, and if they believed me, I wanted to spare the pain of Rosalie's sins. But after a few months, I knew I needed help. I could not find a job and I did not have any money. I was not going to go back to my parents, so they were my only option."

"They obviously believed you," she remarked.

"Not at first they did not. Rosalie is a very good actress, you must know that, and they were utterly convinced by her play at depression she had been putting on for the past few weeks. It was only when I convinced them to ask her about it and then confronted her myself that she broke. Sophie and Harold were horrified that she could have done something like that and then lied about it when the consequences had befallen me instead. Eventually, they had to forgive her but they continued to help me in any way I needed."

"But your parents _still_ did not believe you?"

"They accused the Hales of lying for me out of pity and then shunned them for making up such accusations about their own perfect daughter."

Isabella was silent then and Edward was anxiously waiting for her reaction.

"Would you be terribly offended if I thought they were horrible people?" Biting her lip, she looked at him from under her eyelashes.

He smiled at her then, a real smile. A humorous one. "Not many people would be that truthful. It would be impolite," he admonished playfully.

"Are you calling me impolite?"

"Downright sinful," he growled, again admiring that dress on her. It was sinful. Very, very sinful. "I may have to punish you later."

She flushed and gasped, smacking him on the chest, but by the way she smiled he knew she would not mind at all.

* * *

Watching his mothers face as she saw the dress when he and Isabella walked into the dining room was worth every minute he was being forced to spend in this house.

It amused him more then ever that she was too polite to say anything. Though she hated what Isabella was wearing, she could not say anything about it.

As he was holding her chair out for her, his father commented, "That is a very nice dress, Isabella. It suits you well."

Edward could feel Isabella's shoulders shaking with her suppressed laughter. He himself had trouble containing his laughter at the horrified look Lady Cullen shot her husband.

"Edward bought it for me," Isabella replied. "I am quite fond of it."

Taking his own seat, he met his mothers glare across the table with a raised eyebrow just daring her to say anything. It would have made his day, really.

She stayed silent.

"What was the occasion?" Lord Cullen asked him.

"Can I not buy a pretty dress for a pretty woman without having a reason?" he asked. Truthfully, he was secretly hoping it would get her to his bed faster, but he did not need to know that.

"Where is Alice?" Isabella asked.

At the mention of Alice, Lady Cullen's face tightened.

"Alice?" Lord Cullen asked.

"The maid," Edward clarified.

"Most likely with the other maids. She would probably be in the kitchen helping to prepare dinner. I am not sure honestly."

Edward could tell the answer did not please Isabella. He remembered hearing that they were friends, which would certainly explain her concern over her whereabouts.

As if summoned by their conversation, the maids came out of one of the side doors then, each bearing platters of food. That was the only advantage of being here; the food was better than any he had ever tasted.

As they placed the food on the table in front of them, he saw Lady and Lord Cullen share a meaningful glance. Before he could decipher it, the moment was over and he was left wondering just what they were up to.

Whatever it was, he doubted it was good. They would not have brought Isabella and him here if it were not, not after how they had thrown him out four years ago.

Looking around the table, a sudden thought occurred to him. "Where is Jasper?" In fact, he had not seen his brother at all since arriving at the estate.

"He's not attending dinner this evening," Lord Cullen said.

Since when did Jasper not attend family dinners. "Why not?"

"We have some important matters to discuss between your mother, you and myself." He glanced at Isabella. "Isabella can stay considering the relationship between the two of you."

_Here we go_, he thought ominously.

There was that glance between them again.

"We have had years to mull over the past, Edward," Lord Cullen started. "And I am sure we will come to agreement on this matter."

Edward was not so certain of this, but he stayed silent, waiting it out.

"We have decided to let you come back into the family. We have all made mistakes and we are willing to forget yours."

Before he could continue with that line of conversation, Edward up and out of his seat, preparing to leave the room. Whatever he proposed, he was not coming back. He could do just fine on his own and he had these past few years. He did not need these people and their criticisms any longer.

He was stronger than that.

"Wait, Edward. Please just listen," Lady Cullen begged.

He would have walked out regardless if it were not for the sorrow in her eyes.

Not returning to his seat but not leaving either, he crossed his arms and stared at them expectantly.

"But we have a condition," Lord Cullen added, as if they were doing him a great honor and he should be grateful.

Edward almost snorted.

"We want you to marry Lady Tanya Denali."

And with that Edward stormed out. Not only were they trying to bring him back after kicking him out without a second thought, they were trying to set him up with someone, controlling his life still in everything they did.

He could hear someone following behind him and knew it was Isabella. No one else would have followed him. No one else cared as much about his feelings as she did.

"What are they thinking," he roared as they got to the second floor. "As if it was not enough with all the 'we are willing to forget yours' they want to control my life still!" He was so furious he felt like hitting something.

"We could leave now," she offered.

How that sounded like a nice thought. "Bandits roam at night. I will not risk you like that."

She came up to him and laid a hand on his arm. "No matter what they say, you are not obligated to do anything. They can talk and offer all they want."

He sighed once more. "Let us just go to bed. We will leave first thing in the morning," he declared.

"Okay. Goodnight Edward." She went to walk away then.

He grabbed her hand, not knowing how to ask what he wanted. "Will you stay with me?"

She pulled a regretful expression. "Edward, we cannot."

"No, just sleeping. I will take the couch. I just do not want to be alone when they come looking for me. And they will. If they think you are with me, they will leave."

Although she still looked reluctant, she followed him to his room. He closed the door behind them, wishing he could have locked it for good measure, but alas he could not. His parents were obsessive that way not wanting any locked doors in their home.

They stood their awkwardly for a moment, neither knowing what to do next. He was waiting for her to make a movement, an indication of the next course of action and he suspected she was doing the same of him.

"I cannot sleep in this dress and a corset," she finally said, flushing as she avoided his gaze. He really did love that colour in her cheeks. It made her look so delightfully innocent.

While he wanted nothing more than to watch her undress, he turned around to face the sidewall, silently giving her cue to undress.

"Can you turn around?" she asked quietly.

He assumed she would have been under the covers, hiding herself from his few, but when he turned he found her standing at the foot of the bed, her corset still on over her sheath.

"What—"

"Could you undo the ties at the back for me," she asked shyly. "Usually a maid would do it, but I do not want to give her any incentive to go to your parents."

Though it was the second time today that they had been voiced as his parents, Edward did not give it a moment's thought. His mind was too taken up with the fact that Isabella wanted him to help her undress.

Did she have any idea how his self-control wavered? How she was culling it bit by bit with her innocent, unknowing seductions? He highly doubted it.

He slowly walked towards her and took hold of the ties, slowly loosening them as he went along. His eyes were trained on the task in front of him as he tried to keep his eyes of her neck. He knew what would happen if he stared there too long. The last thing he needed was an Isabella angry and betrayed that he had broken his promise.

Whether she would believe him or not, he was not planning on bedding her. Not tonight. Soon, but not tonight.

Eventually, the corset fell loose, leaving her only in her sheath. It was a white thing, worn and flimsy with years. It seemed Rosalie's generosity only went so far. That was typical for her though.

He knew he should turn around again, even urged himself to, but he just could not find it within him strongly enough. Every part of him wanted to see Isabella like this. He had seen many more women in much less, but Isabella lighted him, made him more eager, than any single one of them ever had. They were nothing, merely candles to her mighty flame.

"You should turn around," she whispered, mirroring his thoughts.

"Yes, I should." But he did not.

Both stood there, suspended in time. Waiting at the crossroads, knowing they should take the path of light but unable to resist the dark path's seductive, tempting promises.

As if in slow motion, he saw his hand come up to trace her neck and shoulder. Feeling her soft skin under his palm, seeing with his own eyes his hand moving but still unable to believe it was him. Was he really so weak that he was unable to resist the temptation of her flesh? It seemed he was.

She pushed up into his touch, as powerless against temptation as he was. They moved closer together until his front was pressed against her back. He reveled in the feeling of her body against his. She was so soft and small in comparison.

"Tell me to stop," he begged her.

He waited for her to voice the command. It never came.

Unable to hold back any longer he spun her around and touched his lips to hers. Gently, he pushed her back to the bed until she lay beneath him on it.

Not once for the next few hours did it even occur to him that maybe this was a mistake.

He knew it was not.

* * *

"I did not intend for this to happen tonight," he admitted, brushing a hand thorough her hair as it lay across his chest.

She stretched from beside him not unlike that of a cat waking after a long sleep. She looked up at him with a tender expression. "I know."

"I did plan on it eventually though." She deserved to know that much at the very least.

She shook her head ruefully at him. "I know that as well. You did not make it very much of a secret." She ran a hand down his chest. "I never planned on fighting you after that first night at the Hale house in London. I knew that, sooner or later, it would come to pass." She smiled wickedly now. "I never expected to enjoy myself as much as I did however."

He glared at her playfully. "Such doubt in my abilities. That is twice you have accused me of being inadequate now, Miss Isabella. One would have thought you would have conceded otherwise after tonight."

"Your ego does not need any more fuel. You feed it enough yourself for the both of us," she teased.

He growled and arranged them until he lay over her. "You have a cheeky mouth."

"You love it."

It was at that moment, laying in bed with her teasing a joking after the passion of less than an hour before, that he knew that he did. All those things he had never felt before, he tenderness, the passion, the urge to both posses and protect, had all built up into one undeniable fact – he loved this woman. It was too soon, he knew that. Logically, he knew that love did not build that fast. It was a concept just as fantastical as love at first sight, but it was nevertheless true.

He loved Isabella.

Looking down into her eyes, he admitted quietly, "Yes, I do."

He thought he saw understanding in her eyes, a joy of knowledge, but she simply remained silent and let him kiss her again. This kiss was much more tender than any he had given in his entire life.

A kiss of promise and love.

All he had to do now was hope she understood. Hope she returned his feelings. Hope that love was enough for her as he did not have all that much else to offer except for that.

* * *

Even though she had gotten no sleep the night before, Isabella was up bright and early the next morning along with Edward. They had packed their things long before the maids were up and Edward was in the process of taking the many boxes of dresses down to the carriage he had the driver bring around to the front.

Isabella, after numerous attempts to help and being denied by Edward, decided that she would go and find Alice to inform her of their impromptu plans. Although she had no idea where to find her friend, she decided to start by finding the kitchen and then asking about the maids' quarters from there.

Following the path she was sure led to the kitchen she slowly pushed open the door and peaked inside. There were a number of maids scurrying around preparing breakfast, but unfortunately, Alice was not there.

"Excuse me," she said to one of the maids closest to her. The older woman looked at her with anxiety and a little disgust. She would have been insulted, but she knew more than enough about being in her place.

"Yes, Miss?"

"I'm looking for my friend. A maid that arrived with us yesterday. Alice?"

The woman nodded in recognition. "Yes. The young girl is tending to the gardens. Do you need someone to fetch her?"

"No, no. That's fine. I'll find her."

The woman nodded and rushed off to continue her job. Isabella made her way towards the doors Edward had used to lead her to the gardens yesterday. Luckily, she managed to find her way without much fuss.

The simple task of finding Alice turned out to be a mission. The gardens were much larger than she had seen yesterday and it took her at least ten minutes if she had to guess to find her friend.

Alice was on her knees tending to a flower bush. She was gently cutting of dead flowers and whatnot. Looking up as Isabella came up to her, Alice smiled in surprise.

"Bella! I would have though you would be at breakfast."

Isabella scrunched her nose. Looking around she decided on a patch of grass to seat herself on. "No, Edward has decided to leave before the Cullen's wake."

Alice blinked at her in surprise. "Leave? Why?"

Thoughts of dinner last night invaded her mind and Isabella frowned. "Lord and Lady Cullen told him he could come back into the family if he were to marry some Lady Tanya woman." The thought was so preposterous that she couldn't even conceive it. Putting aside her own feelings for him, Edward was clearly not the one to marry someone he did have feelings for. It just showed how much his parents did not know him.

"And he refused? Is he sick?" Alice looked at her with wide eyes, forgetting her job.

She frowned at her friend now. "He doesn't want anything to do with them Alice. After what they did to him, I cannot blame him. And that they want him to marry someone he does not know after what Rosalie did to him," she shook her head. "It's just insulting."

Alice groaned. "Do not tell me he had fed you the same lies. How can you believe him? Rosalie is your friend. You saw how upset she was!" Alice was shaking her tiny fists now like a child having a temper tantrum. It would have amused Isabella in any other situation.

"Alice, we have both known Rosalie our entire lives. Can you honestly say she is not vain and a very good actress? And Edward is not a liar. You did not see his face when he told the story. He wouldn't have risked his relationship with is parents and his entire future just to get out of marrying Rosalie."

But Alice just shook her head sadly at Isabella. "You are lovesick. I can see I will not convince you of the truth, but I beg of you to move on from him. He is poison. He will corrupt you and leave you, not unlike he did to poor Rosalie. He does not care for anyone Isabella."

Isabella felt fury rising for her friend. She wanted to yell and defend Edward, but she did not want to abuse Alice. Taking a deep breath, she replied in a terse tone, "Edward is not a liar and he is a good man that made the best of a bad situation. He loves me, he said as much and I believe him." She did not tell Alice about last night however. It would have just convinced her deluded friend otherwise.

A look of horror came over Alice's face nonetheless. "Oh, Isabella. Please don't tell me…"

She cut herself off and stared behind Isabella with a blank expression.

"Alice?" she asked gently, looking behind herself. Standing there a ways down the path was Edward's brother, Jasper Cullen, she thought his name was.

Jasper was looking at Alice with much the same expression her friend wore. Isabella felt a laugh bubble up inside, her ire completely forgotten for the time being.

Isabella stood, brushing off her skirts. "I'll meet you at the front soon Alice. Edward should be ready to leave in a moment."

Alice hummed and nodded to her absently. Isabella made a quick retreated, finally letting her laugh bubble free.

How ironic for both of the Cullen sons to fall from grace.

* * *

_Note: I know this has mistakes. I'm too tired to even read let alone edit this. It's not too bad I hope. I wanted to get this out today though. Let me know what you thought?_


	6. Chapter 6

_Author Note: Sorry this took so long. I've been adjusting to year twelve and the drama it brings. Teachers have such high expectations these days. My math teacher thinks that we should be doing an hour of homework every night, even when we don't have assigned work. I just cannot do that. I'm not a math fanatic. Plus, I have a math text on thursday and a million books to read for English (and lets not even get into Art). So, I do have good reasons. Promise. It's not entirely based on my laziness. _

_As usual, this chapter is unedited. I really don't have the patience or the time. Plus, it's a million degrees here in Darwin, Australia. I wouldn't be able to concentrate if I tried. _

_Hope you enjoy this chapter! _

* * *

**Chapter Six**

**Isabella**

They were in the process of bringing the last of their things down, including a few boxes that felt mysteriously heavier than they should have, when Lady Cullen caught them in the entrance hall.

"You cannot leave before breakfast," she protested.

"I'm sure we will have plenty of time to eat at the Hale estate," Edward said briskly, not even pausing in his stride.

"Why go to the trouble when you can just eat here?"

Edward placed the last reaming boxes in the carriage. "Because it would be more trouble than it is worth. I will not be wasting more time listening to your derogatory proposals."

Lady Cullen looked affronted. "We are giving you a second chance, Edward. Do not pass it up so lightly. We are even presenting you with the perfect wife. Lady Tanya—"

"Is not the woman I will be marrying."

Edward opened the door of the carriage for Isabella and presented a hand to help her inside. She smiled at him in thanks, taking it. They shared a long heated look.

"And who will be then?" Lady Cullen demanded from behind her, breaking their moment.

"Isabella," he stated casually, as if he had not just rocked the foundations of her little world.

She stopped mid step, half inside the carriage and half out, one leg hanging free in the air. She heard Lady Cullen make a choking noise behind her, just as shocked about this revelation as she herself was.

"You choose that girl over a Lady, a barons daughter?" Lady Cullen asked, disbelief colouring her words.

Isabella was insulted then. Who was this woman to dictate who was better than someone else? All those dresses she had bought her yesterday, all that welcome, was that just a ploy to get her to like her just because she somehow thought she ranked higher and deserved Isabella's respect?

She could see how Edward came to dislike his parents now. They really were selfish people at heart.

Isabella continued on into the carriage and Edward stepped in behind her, shutting the door in his mothers face.

"Yes, I do." He stuck his head out of the window. "And this girl is the daughter of a marquees and the niece of a Duke. I seem to remember them raking higher than a baron, but I could be wrong." He turned to the maid standing before Lady Cullen. "Fetch Alice, the maid that arrived with us, and we shall be going."

She maid looked over to her Lady for permission, but Lady Cullen was still staring at Isabella in disbelief, as is she were still processing the events. Eventually, the maid scurried off, returning not a few minutes later with Alice in her tow.

At Edward's beckoning, Alice climbed into the carriage with them and then told the driver that they would be off now. As they started moving Edward called out of the carriage to his mother.

"Goodbye, Lady Cullen," he said.

And then they set off back to the Hale estate, leaving the Cullen estate behind them along with the Lady who still stood out in front of the manor house.

* * *

**Rosalie**

Rosalie Hale checked behind her again for what had to have been the tenth time in the last minute. She was not expecting anyone to follow her, but she could never be too sure of who could see her out the front windows. She was not very well hidden in the open space after all.

When she arrived at the gates, she slipped through them quickly and hurried to the wall that would hide her from the main house. There waiting for her, sitting against the wall and using his horse as shade, was Emmett McCarthy.

"You should not have come," she said, though it lacked heat. They both knew she wanted him here.

"I know," he replied.

"I am to marry Royce King within the month."

"I know."

"Then why would you come?" she asked despairingly.

He stood then. "I don't know that. Maybe because I love you and I am willing to endure seeing you marry another if it means I get to be close to you. Why do you think I camp out here, jobless, homeless?" He grabbed her by the arms. "I would run away with you know, if I could," he said fiercely. "Run away from all the arranged marriages and the lies." He dropped his head then, sorrow etching its way across his face. It agonized her to know that she put it there.

"But I know you love you family," he continued. "And I cannot bare to ask you to leave them for me."

"I would if I thought we would have anywhere to go."

He looked up at her then, tears shining in his blue eyes. "Do you not see? We could go anywhere. I can get a job wherever we choose to go. Get married in a small country town where no one would think to even ask about parents. I cannot bear to see you marry another. I already agonized when I thought you were going to marry that Cullen guy and now I watch the entire process again."

Their situation really was a hopeless one. Whichever path she took, she lost someone dearest to her. She loathed the thought of giving up her parents, but she ached at the thought of marrying anyone but Emmett. She had hurt the both of them so severely these past few years and if she choose to marry Royce, she would only be committing them to a life of pain.

Staring at him now, facing the reality of what he was willing to do for her; leave his job and family, follow her to another country and wait outside her estate every day just to be close to her, she knew she could not let him suffer any longer. For his love, it seemed she would break every rule possible.

Making her choice, she said, "Let me collect a bag. I need a chance to say goodbye, even if they will not know."

His eyes filled with hope, though she could see the reserve on his face. "Really? Are you sure?"

"Yes," she affirmed. There was no going back now, not that a single part of her wanted to. Once she had made her decision, she could not go back from it. "I love you, Emmett. I always have."

* * *

**Isabella**

"We shall be leaving tonight," Edward told her. "I do not want to spend any more time here and risk Hunter arriving with us still in the vicinity."

It took Isabella a moment to process his words, but when she did, she merely nodded in acceptance before continuing her look of disbelief. How could he change the subject so abruptly when he had not moments before announced that he would be marrying her?

"I think we should talk about what you said back there," she told him.

Edward glanced at her, than at Alice, then back at her again. "Later, please? When we have more privacy," he requested.

Why would he want privacy he intended on marrying her? Did he not mean it? Was it just a ploy to infuriate his mother more? But then, he had told her who she was in order to prove she was a suitable wife, or was that all part of the play as well?

Before she could worry any further, she felt Edward take her hand in his. When he gave that hand a reassuring squeeze, she was assured everything would be okay. She did not think Edward was one to make rash announcements like that without having thought it out first. If he had said he intended on marrying her, than he most likely meant it. There were a number of things he could have told his mother, but instead he had told her he was marrying Isabella.

While she was still nervous, she was contented to wait to talk until they were alone. It was most likely a conversation best had in private anyway.

With nothing but silence in the carriage, Isabella was left to her thoughts. How wonderful it would be, she thought, to be Edward's wife. Though he was not the most proper husband, she had to admit, she preferred a thief over a snobby Lord or poor farmer, neither of whom would treat her right just because of who she was and the fact that she had been forced to be a maid. Edward did not care for such things and he accepted her just as she was.

Suddenly, she had an image of herself bearing Edward's child. Either a boy or a girl, the sex did not matter, but simply a child with a little bit of each of them.

She wanted that more than she could express.

* * *

When they arrived at the Hale estate two hours shy of lunch, there was activity everywhere. She could see workers outside across every inch of the estate she could see and when they walked inside, the main house was in a state of chaos.

Catching one of the maids by the arm as she went to hurry past, Edward asked her what was going on.

"Miss Rosalie is missing, sir," she explained. "No one has seen her since last night and she is not in her bed nor any other place in the manor house."

Edward let her go then and she scurried off.

"Rosalie is missing?" Isabella shook her head in denial. Why would Rosalie go missing? She would not leave, that was for certain, not when she was so close to marriage, something her friend had been gushing about since they were both girls. Rosalie was not one for random midday walks; in fact, Rosalie barley left the house when she did not have to.

"I think I know where she is," Edward said grimly.

"Where?" she demanded, grabbing his arm. No matter what horrors Rosalie had committed against Edward, a lifetime of friendship could not be so easily broken and forgotten.

Edward met her eyes. "Did you notice that McCarthy was not at his post in front of the gate?"

"So?" What did McCarthy have to do with this?

"I told you that I found Rosalie with a man, but I did not tell you who he was. I did not want to burden you with the knowledge and I did not know for certain of his intentions by following us here since he is also a member of Lord Hunters guard."

"What are you saying Edward?" Surely he was not insinuating what she thought he was.

"Emmett McCarthy and Rosalie have run off together. It seemed you were never his target after all, just an excuse to follow Rosalie without being too obvious. I also doubt he could have gotten on the ship otherwise."

"Does that mean we do not have to leave?" she whispered, relief washing over her. Lord Hunter was not looking for her. They were safe. Free.

He smiled at her then and bent down to give her a quick kiss. Although she was surprised by his blatant show of affection, she was too caught up in her joy to dwell much. Yes, her friend was gone, but she had faith that she was happy. And now Isabella could be happy as well.

"Are we really going to marry?" she whispered against his lips, unable to contain her questions for any longer.

She felt him smile into their kiss. "Yes, if you will have me."

She felt like crying, but held the tears at bay. She never thought she would have this. Not since her parents died. "Of course I will. I love you," she whispered. No sense in hiding or being bashful by that now.

"You made me want to love again," he declared.

Never had she imagined herself so happy as she was now.

* * *

For Isabella, the next few weeks passed in a leisurely fashion. Rosalie's mysterious absence didn't change and no news on her whereabouts came in. She could tell that Sophie and Harold were extremely worried. She herself was worried. Rosalie wasn't someone to act impulsively. She had planned her life since she was a young girl. Rosalie had wanted to marry someone of high status ever since she could remember.

Also adding to their worries, Royce King had started inquiring about a meeting with Rosalie and her parents. Harold had been putting him off, but they all knew that wouldn't last for long. Sooner or later, it would come to the time when they would have to tell Lord Royce that his betrothed had run off with another man.

Edward and Isabella had decided to keep their engagement a secret for the moment. While she knew Edward wanted nothing more than to announce it to the world, he kept quite for her sake. Even though he had said that he didn't understand her reasons, he kept his promise of keeping quite. Now was not the time for a wedding. That would have to wait until the situation with Rosalie, Emmett and Royce had been sorted out. While she wanted nothing more than to marry Edward tomorrow, she knew it was the best decision.

And through all the drama, she was amazed at how fast their relationship had developed. It had only been a few nights since she had met Edward when she fell in love with him and they spent their night together. She would have had a difficult time believing it was had really happened had she not experienced herself. In that way she could forgive Alice for her hostility to Isabella's new relationship with Edward. While she could keep their engagement a secret, she could not hide the fact that she was so desperately in love with him.

Exactly a month after they had arrived in France, two things happened simultaneously: Sophie received a letter from Rosalie and Royce King decided that he had been waiting long enough for the woman who was supposed to be married to him by now.

They were at breakfast when Sophie came in with the letter.

"She's in Germany!" she announced, waving the letter in the air. Her eyes were filled with joy at knowing her only child was alive.

Isabella slumped into her chair in relief at finally receiving confirmation that her friend was alive and well. With that knowledge, her ire started to return quickly.

"Is she alright?" Harold demanded. "When is she coming home? Why did she leave?"

Sophie's happy expression dropped as she did into the chair. "She's fine, but I'm afraid everything's been ruined. She does not know when she is coming home, you see, a she has married some man called Emmett McCarthy. That was the Hunter guard who followed us, was it not?"

Edward nodded, casually going on with his breakfast. Isabella could see that the news of Rosalie didn't faze him one little bit. After what she had done to him, Isabella knew he would be glad just to have them both out of sight.

Sophie let out a moan of despair. "Heavens! What are we going to do? She has wasted herself on a guard when there was a Lord waiting for her." She slumped down on to the table. "What are we going to do Harold?"

Harold picked at his breakfast, staring down at it thoughtfully. Isabella wondered what he was seeing in his breakfast that he thought would hold the answers he was looking for.

"You're just going to have to tell this Royce King the truth. There's not much he can do about it now," Edward said.

Sophie looked horrified. "But he will be furious!"

Edward shrugged. "Unless you have another daughter to offer him, it's your only option."

Harold sighed. "He's right. We have to tell him. There's nothing more to it."

While Sophie was very obviously not happy with that solution, she was quite. Even Isabella knew that they had no other options. With Rosalie married, there was no hope for a resolution to this conflict. Even if she did come home, her new husband would be with her or not very far away.

They finished their breakfast in silence then, the weight of the news hanging heavily in the air. Even Edward was silent, though she did see him open his mouth as if to speak many times throughout the meal.

Isabella went to the library after breakfast and Edward followed her into the large room. He closed the door behind them and swiftly interfered with her plans of curling up by the fire with her latest book.

Grabbing her around the waist, he pulled her to sit down on top of him on a chair by the fire. It had been lit this morning at her request in preparation of her visit.

"Edward!" she squealed as they went down. "I was planning on reading!"

He laughed into her neck. "I don't feel like reading. I feel like kissing." Then his lips pressed into her neck, continuing up to her mouth. Before she could halfheartedly protest, his mouth was upon hers.

His hand was in her hair, holding her head in the position he needed while hers rested around his neck as best she could. They moved together had they had many times before and Isabella was getting lost in the kiss. A frequent occurrence and one that she could honestly say she loved.

Edward was the one who broke the kiss. They rested their foreheads together, panting in tandem. "I'll never get tired of doing that," he breathed.

She giggled against him.

"Will you let me read now?"

"Not on your life," he growled before crushing his lips to hers again.

* * *

**Edward**

Isabella had settled in with a book, much to Edward's dismay, and he was simply watching her face as she read while she sat on him when Alice came into the library. Edward saw the face she pulled when she saw the two of them in such an intimate position and relished in the fantasy of her face when she heard they were to me married. The thought amused him greatly.

Mr. and Mrs. Hale would like your attendance in the sitting room, Bella," she told the girl on his lap.

"What for?"

Alice shrugged. "I do not know, but Lord Royce King arrived half an hour ago and they have been in the sitting room since then."

Edward's blood chilled. He had his suspicions on why Royce King would want to meet Isabella and he wasn't liking them at all.

Isabella got off of his lap and stretched, setting her book down. Edward stood after her and went to follow the two women out of the room.

"Mr. Cullen, your presence was not required," Alice said tightly.

Edward possessively put his hand on Isabella's back. He looked at Alice pointedly, raising an eyebrow. "Isabella's presence is though and I intend to find out what Royce King wants with her."

Alice blatantly rolled her eyes at him but nevertheless led them both out of the room and towards the sitting room. It sat right across the other side of the great room, explaining the reason why they hadn't heard Royce King arrive beforehand.

When they entered the room they found Sophie, Harold and who Edward assumed was Royce. He had dark slicked back hair ad bright blue eyes. Young too, much younger than Edward would have thought.

Royce stood when they entered, smiling brightly at Isabella while eyeing off Edward as well. Edward met his gaze with a glare. This man spelled trouble. Edward had been around enough men like him to recognize the signs.

Apparently dismissing Edward, Royce turned his attentions to Isabella. He picked up her hand and pressed a kiss to the top making Edward growl low in his throat. How dare this man touch is woman!

"Miss Swan. Mr. and Mrs. Hale were telling me that you are currently not betrothed or engaged?"

Edward tensed up and he felt Isabella tense where she was pressed against him. She ripped her hand out of the grip of Royce King, for which Edward was grateful. He would have hated to have to remove it for him.

Under the circumstances, he didn't even notice the use of Isabella's previously unknown maiden name.

"I'm afraid that's not entirely accurate, Lord King," Isabella said.

Royce King once again eyed Edward. He dismissed him just as quickly too.

"As the matter may be, I still feel it necessary to inform you of my wish to marry you in the place of the quite disobedient Rosalie Hale."

That's when Edward lost his temper.

* * *

_Author Note: I hope to get the next chapter out as soon as possible. Don't give up on me!_

_What did you think of this chapter? Honesty, I can't really remember every event that happens, but I know the general overview. Good? As you can probably tell, I was going to end the story just after they got back from the Cullen estate, but I wasn't happy with how unfinished that ending felt. I don't know how many chapters it will take to finish this or how long it will take me to write them, but I do have every intention of doing so._


	7. Chapter 7

_Authors Note: Hey, guys. Another update. Believe me when I say it's a miracle that this is going out so soon. I have a promise to myself that I'll only post the next chapter once I have finished writing the chapter after it so I know I'll always have a spare chapter in case I need extra time to write. Thankfully, I finished chapter eight even while writing Camp NaNoWriMo (only a 10,000 word goal this time) and starting my second third of year twelve. Speaking of, I've realised that I have only seven weeks until I turn eighteen. How crazy is that?_

_And SURPRISE! This chapter is mostly edited. I read through this just before I posted in an effort of procrastinating on my math homework. There's a first time for everything right? Sorry for any mistakes I've missed. I'm not perfect and I'm tired._

_Also, I've noticed that the read count on this story is exceptionally high, like in the hundreds per chapter, but I'm only getting a handful (really, only an actual handful) of reviews for each chapter. While I'm incredibly grateful for everyone who's read and/or reviewed already (THANKS EVERYONE!) I would really like to know what you think. One word reviews are very welcome. I just want to know you're there and how many people are actually interested._

_HAPPY READING!_

* * *

**Chapter Seven**

_Edward _

Edward stepped in front of Isabella, facing Royce. He met the Lord's surprised expression with a glare. "Well you can't," he snapped. "Because she is already engaged to myself."

Sophie and Harold both gasped from the couches.

Royce raised an eyebrow at him. "That's not what I've been told."

"Your information is out of date. You are terribly misinformed. Isabella is not available."

Royce looked around him at Isabella. "Is this true? Are you to marry this…_man_?"

Edward couldn't see Isabella, but he knew she nodded by the petulant expression on Royce's face.

"How unfortunate." He turned to Sophie and Harold then. "Be warned that you are currently in debt to me. I will take time to think it over and inform you of my demands." He turned to walk out of the room but then but paused as he stood by Isabella. "You will inform me if you change you mind?"

Edward didn't give her a chance to answer in his temper, something that he suspected he would pay for later. "That will never happen."

Royce shot him an annoyed look. "Nevertheless." He smiled at Isabella and then strode from the room without a backwards glance.

Edward didn't move until he heard Royce's carriage leave from outside. He couldn't, not until he knew the bastard wasn't going to return.

Isabella fell against him in relief. "Gosh," she breathed, apparently unable to say anything else.

Edward wrapped his arms around her and squeezed tightly. How close had he come to loosing her? Just when they thought they had dodged trouble with Hunter, this new Lord came along to bring it up again.

"Since when are you engaged?" Sophie demanded.

Edward squeezed Isabella again before letting go and turning to face Sophie, though he made sure to keep hold of her hand. "It was decided the morning when we left the Cullen estate."

Sophie put a hand to her forehead. "You didn't think this was something we should know?"

Edward shrugged. "I was all for telling you, but Isabella seemed to think it wasn't the right time what with Rosalie running away and all."

"I'm sorry," Isabella whispered.

He turned to her. "No, it's not your fault. You have nothing to be sorry for." Smiling at her, he pressed a kiss to her cheek.

"I should have known," Sophie murmured. "The both of you have been so close this past month. I should have known."

"I would not have married Lord King," Isabella said. "Even if I hated Edward to the bone. I would not have married him." Edward was so proud of the force behind her words. He knew it took a lot for her to stand up to someone like that.

Sophie looked over at her with softness. "I would not have made you. Lord King seemed to gather the thought all on his own when I mentioned you in passing. He demanded to know more of your past and I had to tell him. You understand don't you?"

Edward remembered the mention of her last name now. "You're the daughter of the Swans aren't you?" he asked her. Of course he had known of her position in society and that her parents had died, but he hadn't put the facts together. How stupid of him.

"Yes," she said meekly. "You don't hate me do you?"

He shook his head furiously. While the Swans certainly hadn't been the nicest people, he had met much worse (recently Royce King and Hunter). He had known everything about her past but her family name. He knew who she was, he loved who she was. That wasn't going to change now.

"Now you're just being silly," he scoffed. "How could anyone ever hate you?"

Sophie clapped and stood up then, interrupting their moment. "Well, we have a wedding to plan Isabella. We should get started."

"Oh, no, really, we can wait…"

Sophie waved a hand and came forward to guide Isabella from the room. "No, no, no sense in waiting. Money is not a problem. I'm sure between Edward and Harold they have more than enough and Rosalie has taken away my chance to be apart of her wedding, so don't you do the same."

Before Isabella could protest again, she was gone from the room, leaving Edward and Harold looking after them.

Harold went over to the liquor cabinet and grabbed a bottle and two glasses. Pouring liquor into both, he handed one to Edward.

"Welcome to the joys of marriage," he said and quickly upturned his glass.

With a slight smile, Edward downed his own glass.

* * *

_ Isabella_

It wasn't long before Alice heard the news of their engagement. Only two hours later, Isabella had just escaped Sophie and was in the process of heading back to the library when Alice caught her.

"Why do I hear that you're marrying Mr. Cullen?" she demanded, catching a hold of her arm.

"Because it's true." Isabella tried to push down the irritation at her friend. Alice had no right to question her choices so fiercely.

"But you can't, Rosalie—"

"Has run off and married Emmett McCarthy," Isabella finished.

Alice scowled. "She and Edward would be married by now if it had not been for him."

Isabella stared at her friend in disbelief. Even after they had the proof that Rosalie was in the wrong, even when it was obvious she had been with Emmett McCarthy the entire time, Alice still held a grudge against Edward.

"Alice, how can you still blame Edward? Anyone in his situation would have acted similarly. Rosalie was having an affair with Emmett McCarthy, surly that is obvious by now?"

Alice shook her head. "While that is true, Rosalie was only acting on her heart. Marriage is not always for love, both Rosalie and Emmett McCarthy knew that, they must have. Edward should have known that as well."

"You are bitter Alice," Isabella said sadly. "Why should marriage not be for love? Why make yourself miserable with someone you do not care for?"

"Because it would have been the right thing to do. Now Rosalie is married to a simple man. He does not have nearly enough money to support her as Edward and the Cullen's would have if he had stuck with the marriage."

"But they did not love each other."

Alice threw her hands up in the air. "Oh, and I suppose this is a marriage of love then and not a ploy on your part to get out of a bad situation. He does have money now, after all, with his four years of crime. No, that wouldn't be in family tradition at all."

Without thinking, Isabella struck Alice across the cheek. "How dare you accuse me of that! I am not my mother!"

Alice looked at Isabella with shock and Isabella, horrified that she had just hit her best friend, attempted to apologize.

"Don't bother," Alice said. Without another word, Alice turned and walked back down the hallway.

Isabella thought of following her, but dismissed the idea. Pressuring Alice now when she so clearly needed to be alone would not help resolve the matter. And despite how much remorse she was currently feeling, Alice should not have said the things she did. Maybe she needed a while to think about her words.

Her mood completely opposite, Isabella continued her path to the library.

* * *

_Edward_

A week later and, much to Edward's dismay, Isabella was drowning in wedding plans.

Once Sophie had found out about their plans to marry, she had engrossed herself in plans and had taken Isabella down with her. Edward spent much of his days either alone or with Harold, but the older man wasn't much company. His nights he spent mostly alone, except for those times Isabella managed to evade the rest of the household and sneak into his room.

This left him a lot of time to think. He thought about how joyous he was to be marrying Isabella. He thought of where they would live once they were married, as they could not stay here, not when he wanted her alone so dearly. He thought of their future. But mostly he thought of his previous life and how much he missed thieving.

This last thought surprised him. While he didn't hate having to take things from the rich and arrogant in order to survive, he loved travelling more than any of that. Being in the same place for so long wasn't comforting for him, not anymore, and with many of his days now free of distraction, he was restless to the extreme.

He had started going on horse rides around the estate to pass the time. Samson, recently brought over from London, needed his exercise. He had been so well used in the past years that sitting in a stable for days at a time made him restless also. They were a pair, Edward thought. Both cooped up, but while Edward was willingly here, he knew Samson would much rather be out of the stables than inside them.

Edward was just about to set off on one of his rides when he saw a horse and rider trotting up the path from the gates from his position outside the stables.

Going up the meet rider, Edward was surprised to see that it was Jasper. He didn't know if he should be wary or glad to see him. Jasper had done nothing to him, had even believed him, but he could never be sure of what his parents would send his way.

"What brings your arrival?" he asked.

Jasper smiled pleasantly at him. "I hear that my older brother is getting married. I thought I'd come and extend my congratulations."

Edward eyed him suspiciously. "Uh huh. Thanks. Now you can tell me why you snuck away on a horse instead of taking the carriage like Lady Cullen would have insisted if she had known of your leaving."

Jasper looked bashful. "If they knew I intended to visit, they would have had my head."

Edward shook his head in amusement. "I've never known you to break rules, brother."

"I figured it had to rub off sometime."

Edward thought for a moment. "Join my on my ride," he insisted.

Jasper readily agreed and the two of them set off across the estate lying off the back of the manor house.

"I'm glad that you don't hold any hostility towards me," Jasper started. "After what mother and father did and then after dinner last month, well, I thought you'd be much more hostile. I was prepared for it actually."

"I hold no grudge against you. It's mother and father I will not speak to."

They were silent then, riding side by side. Edward was just glad to have company. It was an added plus that it was his brother. Jasper was the only Cullen he missed while he way away. Lord and Lady Cullen had decided to move permanently to France two years ago, following the gossip Edward's scandal caused. He had not seen Jasper in two years.

"Are you betrothed to anyone yet? Maybe a sister of Lady Tanya Denali?"

Jasper let out a dry laugh. "It is only a matter of time. Mother has been throwing suggestions at father for years, but the two of them really are fussy. Gosh knows why. It seems as though they are determined to find someone who is willing to marry a fallen Lords son and are having trouble. Someone will come along soon though. There's too much of a fortune in the stakes for too many more to decline."

Edward felt no small amount of pity for his brother. He knew what it was like to dread marriage. He had been there with Rosalie. He had always wished for something more for Jasper. He had such a big heart and was such an emotional creature that marrying someone he didn't love would destroy him slowly from the inside out.

"I wish there was something I could do for you," Edward sighed.

"Actually," Jasper said after a moments pause. "There is something you can do."

Edward looked at his brother curiously, waiting for the nervous man to continue.

"The maid that you brought with you to visit." He cleared his throat and avoided looking at Edward, staring straight ahead. Again, Edward waited for him to continue with intense amusement, but Jasper stayed silent.

"She will not go lightly," Edward said. He was grinning. Oh, how he could not wait to see his parent's reactions to this new development.

"That's why I'm asking for your help."

Edward let out a laugh now. "Brother, anything you need. Anything, you just ask me."

Jasper shot him a disgruntled look. "You're just saying that because you want to get back at mother and father," he accused.

"Of course," he agreed. "But nevertheless, I will set up occasions for the two of you to be together. I will invite Isabella to a picnic. She did want to go on one a while back. Alice will come to assist us of course." Edward shot a sly glance at Jasper. "Would you like to join us?"

Jasper grinned back at him.

Much to his promise, Royce sent a messenger to deliver his demands of the Hales. Edward and Jasper intercepted him as they came back from their ride and Edward wasted no time in reading the letter himself, even though it was addressed to Sophie and Harold.

_Mr. and Mrs. Hale_

_As you have failed to provide me with a suitable wife as of yet, in order to fulfil this duty, you will be holding a ball for me in order to choose a wife. I expect her to come from a honourable family and be acceptably pretty. Please take note that I expect to be informed of all arrangement you make in regards to the ball, including venue, date and the dress code._

_Let it be known that I expect your entire family to be in attendance as a show of the importance of this ball and your dedication to the cause, due to your failure on your earlier promises._

_Lord Royce King_

As if they didn't have enough troubles, now they had to hold a ball for Royce King and find Rosalie and Emmett in the process.

It seemed that his wedding would be put off longer than he had thought.

* * *

_Author Note: What do you think? I'm not one for dragging on love troubles for too long. I just couldn't have Royce come between the two of them. What do you think about the ball? I'm sure I've mentioned it to someone… Do you think they'll find Rosalie and Emmett in time? Do you WANT them to?_

_I'm excited about Jasper being in the story. While Edward and Bella had a pretty easy time of getting together, the same can not be said for poor Jasper and Alice. I wont drag it out, but he'll have to win Alive over first. She's not hte nicest character in my story. I didn't plan on her ending up like this, but alas, she did. The best laid plans right?_

_Opinions?_


	8. Chapter 8

_Author Note: …It's my birthday, so you can't kill me. It would suck to die on the day you turn __**eighteen**__. (holy crap) (hint hint) (ican'tbelievei'malegaladult)_

_Year 12 is busy. Sorry about the wait, but besides dropping my grades, there's nothing I can do. It doesn't help that the dry season has arrived (took long enough) and the cold is going around because of the influx of cooler whether. (Have I mentioned how much I love the cold whether and hate the heat yet?)_

_Anyway's…the chapter!_

_Disclaimer: There's only one person who can claim they wrote Twilight. It's not me._

* * *

_Chapter Eight_

_Isabella_

Sophie was frantic. Isabella had never seen someone so rushed in all her life. With the news of the ball, she had rushed into action of planning both that and Isabella's wedding. Isabella had told her time and time again to hold the wedding, that she should focus on the ball, but Sophie refused each time, claiming that she wanted to do it. Isabella wasn't going to deny her, but she did wish that she would hold off for a while.

Isabella tried to take as much of the pressure off of her as she could, but eventually even she needed a break. Luckily, Edward was willing to provide. He had been planning a day trip, a picnic, while she had been busy with their wedding plans. She was looking forward to it. Just her, Edward and Alice (at, strangely enough, Edward's insistence). She really did hope that Alice and herself could make up today. She had missed her friend and Alice didn't seem inclined to make any attempt at apologizing.

To her surprise, on the day of the picnic Edward's brother turned up. He had been a regular visitor at the Hale manor and he kept Edward company when she could not, which was much more often than she would have liked.

Alice and herself were in the great room, waiting silently for Edward's assurance that the horses were ready to leave when Jasper knocked on the door. Alice answered it and Jasper stepped inside, eyes only for Alice. Alice didn't notice, but Isabella surely did.

"Mr. Cullen," Isabella greeted. "I'm afraid you've caught us at bad time."

Jasper broke eye contact with Alice to look at Isabella. "Edward invited me along to your picnic. I hope that's okay?" He looked nervous.

Having a suspicion on why Edward had invited his brother and Alice both, Isabella informed him that it was just fine. Alice would need a lot of convincing and what better time when she had nowhere to run?

Her husband-to-be really was a genius.

Edward came back into the room then, greeting his brother merrily. If Isabella had thought that there were any black feelings between the two, those thoughts would have been proved wrong right then.

"Are we ready to leave?" he asked, looking between the three of them.

Alice was quick to gather the things they were taking on the picnic and rush out of the room. She didn't look at any of them. Edward shared a look with his brother who, Isabella noticed, was looking after Alice hopelessly. Isabella would have been amused if it hadn't been for her own troubles with Alice.

And so the four of them set out on their picnic. Edward had managed to muster up three horses, meaning that she had to share with Edward, not that she minded.

"We're there not four horses, Edward?" she asked over her shoulder. She was sure she had seen four of them in the stables during their stay on the Hale estate.

His lips brushed her ear as he chuckled. "Of course, but how else was I supposed to get you pressed against me?"

She flushed.

"You really are hopeless, brother," commented Jasper from beside them.

"Don't get me started on hopeless, Jasper. I seem to remember a certain lady who has 'eyes like diamonds'," he teased.

Jasper shot him a dark look. "Stop going through my things."

"Never."

Isabella laughed outright. Edward was known to be cheeky and playful, especially as of late, but this was a whole different side to him. He was so relaxed with his brother, bantering and teasing. Nothing like the seductive, possessive man she had come to know. She quite enjoyed it. It gave her an inkling of what he was like as child, before the world tore him out of a life he had always expected.

Not that her life had turned out anything like she had expected. Even as a young girl she knew she would marry for money and status. Her parents had made it blatantly obvious what they expected of her – to marry a man who was worthy of their family fortune. She had always suspected that her parents had resented her a little, just because she was the only child they had managed to conceive and she wasn't a boy. As a girl, she hadn't understood but as a teenager, before her parents had died, she had accepted. There was nothing else she could have done.

But now she was sitting in the arms of a man who loved her. A man who wanted to marry her even though he knew she had nothing to offer him. It was beyond any wild fantasy she'd had as a child.

They arrived at their picnic spot not to long after they had set out. It was in the middle of a large grassy field stretching far in each direction. If Isabella looked hard enough, she could just see the small dot of the manor house in the distance. It really was a beautiful spot, though quite sunny if she did say so.

"Perhaps we should find some shade," she suggested.

Edward slide off Samson, looking around at their intended spot. "I don't really feel like dining on the edge of the forest," he muttered.

"I'm sure the ladies would prefer to keep their complexions," remarked Jasper. "Wouldn't you agree, Miss Alice?"

Alice, sitting on her own horse off to the side, looked at him shyly, flushed, and then looked away again. "Yes, Master Jasper," she relied quietly.

Edward sighed and led them towards the trees. They set up the picnic and the four of them sat down, Edward pulling Isabella to his side while Alice and Jasper sat timidly next to one another.

"Shall we eat?" Isabella asked.

Edward and Jasper both agreed and Alice reached into the sack Edward had pulled from his horse and started brining out the food and laying it on the rug between the four of them.

"Here," Jasper said, reaching to take the sack from her. "Let me help."

Alice flushed again, doing a fine interpretation of Isabella herself, not looking up from the rug. It was the most timid Isabella had ever seen her friend and it both amused and worried her. Was she doing the right thing pushing this onto Alice, even though she clearly liked Jasper?

They started to eat in silence. Isabella wanted to say something to break the silence, but she didn't know what to say. Alice wasn't talking to her, she didn't know Jasper very well and Edward and her talked every day and she couldn't think up a topic that wouldn't leave the other two out of the conversation.

"When's the wedding," Jasper finally asked.

Edward looked towards her, expectantly but she just shrugged at him. Sophie had been planning it all, not her.

"After the ball, definitely," she replied. "Winter maybe."

It was silent again.

Edward stood up, brushing his hands on his pants before holding out a hand towards Isabella on the ground. "Take a walk with me?"

She looked over towards Jasper and Alice, noticing Jasper's enthusiastic but nervous expression and Alice's twisted one. She shot Isabella a dark look that, although made her feel guilty for what she was about to do, hardened her resolve. Alice was so bitter and if nothing could sweeten her, maybe Jasper could.

She smiled up at Edward, taking his hand. "Sounds lovely," she remarked.

Edward led her away from the picnic and along the tree line, holding her hand. The grass tickled her ankles underneath her skirts, a completely unfamiliar and not entirely pleasant sensation.

"Did you have a fight with Alice?" he asked.

She shrugged, not wanting to divulge the details of her argument with Alice. It would only make him angry. They didn't need any confrontations; it would only make things worse. Better that Alice is left alone.

"Do you think Jasper will win her over?" she asked instead.

Edward laughed. "I don't doubt it. He may be oversensitive but he can sure make it work in his favour. I think he's quite determined, too."

On the contrary, Isabella knew Alice to be quite stubborn. If Jasper could break through Alice's shell, than more power to him. Isabella, while still holding the highest affection for her friend, was through dealing with her stubbornness any longer. She wasn't going to apologise to her. Isabella loved Edward and nothing Alice could say would change that. She wouldn't let it. She had been influenced and pressured enough in her life by her parents.

They walked in silence for a while, swinging their held hands between them like children. It was comfortable.

Breaking the silence, Edward cleared his throat, drawing her attention. Looking at him, he looked almost nervous. Isabella giggled. Never would she have imagined Edward Cullen, the hard assed thief who took her from the Hunter estate, would ever look nervous. Not before a few weeks ago at least.

"Isabella," he started, not looking at her directly. "I'm a thief."

"That's not really that much of a revelation to me, Edward."

He sighed. "What I mean is I'm not used to being in the same place for too long. To be truthful, the longest I've stayed in any particular place in four years is a couple of weeks, and that was only because of…" He cut himself off abruptly, making Isabella raise her eyebrows questioningly.

"Because?" she prompted.

Edward waved a hand, dismissing the topic. Isabella had her suspicions, especially since he refused to talk about it, and the thought made her jealous. She wasn't an idiot, she knew he had been with other women before, but to have it confirmed…well, it hurt. Of course, she was being stupid. He was with her now, they were getting married. She had nothing to worry about.

"I just want to know if, after all this is over and done with and after we're married, you'll travel with me." Seeing her hesitant expression, he spoke before she could voice her opinion. "I know it's not an ideal lifestyle and I won't force you to do it, but I don't think I can stay here forever. Not sanely of course."

Isabella didn't know what to think. She had never imagined herself living the lifestyle of a traveller, but she could no longer deny that she would follow him anywhere. He had been trying to convince her that she was his since she met him, whether he only wanted her in his bed at first didn't matter, and now she had finally accepted that.

But still, she just didn't know whether she could live that life. Stealing didn't sit well with her moral values and it held severe punishments. If only they could travel without having to steal, but she knew Edward could never handle having a socially accepted job. Stealing was the only job he had ever known. It wasn't like they could get by with the money he had forever. Yes, he did have a substantial amount, she had almost fainted when she learnt how much, but it couldn't provide their travels for a lifetime. They would need another income eventually.

"I'll need to think about it," she told him.

"Of course," he replied. He squeezed her hand in reassurance. "Take your time. I won't be going anywhere without you." Suddenly, he pulled her into his embrace, claiming his lips with her own. "You're mine now," he growled against her lips.

She didn't have an argument for that.

* * *

_Edward_

When they arrived back at the picnic rug, Alice and Jasper were sitting in silence at opposite ends. Alice nibbled furiously on a piece of bread while Jasper looked uncomfortable, shooting looks at Alice every few seconds. Edward could only guess at what had happened. Knowing his brother, he had put his foot in his mouth, declaring his feelings too early. Jasper never had been good at hiding his feelings and even less talented at keeping secrets. Too many times had he told their parents about one of Edward's wrongdoings, even after promising his silence. It had infuriated Edward more than anything.

From his side, Isabella shot him a knowing look. Edward knew she had suspected this would happen. He himself had expected it. Alice was stubborn, even when she had liked him, and Jasper was too soft and open. He had wished for a better outcome, but this one wasn't surprising in the least. He would just have to work harder at getting the two of them together.

"Everything okay?"

Alice blatantly ignored her friend, further confirming his suspicions that the two girls had had an argument. He couldn't imagine Isabella causing any trouble, not with her tendency to avoid conflict, but he _could_ imagine Alice causing a tiff about their relationship. He knew Alice hadn't liked him since his fall out with Rosalie, still blamed him for what had happened, even though she must have known what really happened by now. A few years ago, it had pained him that no one believed him, but now it didn't matter to him so much anymore. He had already lost his parents, but he had gained both Isabella and had his brother on his side once more. Alice and he had never really been close anyways.

Jasper looked up at him, smiling ruefully. "Yeah, we're fine," he said.

Edward knew it was a lie but he wasn't going to push him. He would talk to his brother later. For now, they had a picnic to finish.

"Should we finish eating?" Isabella suggested cheerfully.

As they finished the rest of the food brought out for the picnic, conversation was awkwardly held. Alice wouldn't speak to anyone, Isabella tried hard to keep conversation going between the four of them while Jasper constantly blanked out in the middle of conversation, staring at Alice wistfully while she very obviously ignored him. Edward engaged in his fiancé's attempts at conversation while internally going over other ways to bring his brother and Alice together. First, he suspected he would have to fix whatever problem Alice had with Isabella. Hopefully, that would improve her mood more and maybe he could even try to open her up to the idea of their relationship. He didn't particularly want to be the one trying to mend things between Alice and himself, but for Jasper and Isabella, he would. Even if he would be daydreaming of wringing her neck the entire time.

However, he had a feeling that things weren't going to be quite that easy.

* * *

_Authors Note: The next chapter will most likely have the same gap between this and the last one. I'm really sorry, but it's really hard finding the time. _

_Wish me a happy birthday?_


	9. Chapter 9

_Authors Note: Hi guys. This chapter didn't take quite so long to update, but that's because it's a little shorter than the others. There is a reason for that and I'll tell you at the end, when I won't be spoiling anything for you. I just finished writing the end now and I read over it before I posted, so hopefully there are a little less mistakes. Don't expect it to be perfect though, because it most certainly is not._

_I know what I want to happen in the next two or so chapters now, in a round about way, so that's a good thing. Things are coming to a head in my final year of high school now, with only fourteen weeks left once I finish my holidays (only three weeks left. Sigh) so don't expect constant updates or anything. Even when I'm on holidays, I'm not really. I got a ton of take home assignments to do, like six or seven, and I haven't started any of them. Plus I've got to go into school some days to do work there. Fun, fun, fun! Wish me luck?_

_Disclaimer: If I owned Twilight, I'd be anywhere but Darwin, I can tell you that now. Sadly, I don't see any way out anytime soon._

* * *

**Chapter Nine**

_Edward_

Edward didn't have much time to dwell over Jasper and Alice when they got back from their picnic. Unknown to them, Sophie and Harold has sent out an investigator to find Rosalie and Emmett. He had been searching Germany for weeks and had finally come back with news.

When Edward, Jasper, Isabella and Alice entered the main hall after their picnic, they were met by a tearful Sophie, and uncomfortable Harold and a stony man with dark hair and stern features by the name of Felix Vernon.

"I met up with them in a small country town in Germany and gave them your letter," Felix Vernon was saying.

Edward narrowed his eyes on the man. He didn't much like these investigators, as they rarely worked with the law. Not that he himself did, but he didn't know a thing about this Felix Vernon. Most men such as himself had far less values than he did.

Sophie smiled at them, her tears a contrast to her hopeful expression. "We found Rosalie!" she announced.

Isabella and Alice responded exactly how he would have guessed. The three girls met in a circle in, sharing their excitement. Edward watched with a rueful expression. He was happy that Isabella was happy, and glad that they had found Rosalie before the ball, but he wasn't in any way excited for her return. Their relationship would never, could never, be the same as it was before her betrayal. He could forgive her for not loving him, as he didn't love her, but he couldn't forgive her for betraying their soon to be union, taking what she wanted for herself without even considering what he was giving up for their loveless marriage.

While the girls chatted and Harold led Felix Vernon out of the room to his study to work out finances and payment, Jasper turned to Edward with a knowing expression that Edward tried to ignore.

"You're not happy for her return, are you?"

Edward was silent for a moment before he spoke. "I can't see this ending well," was all he said to his brother. With Rosalie, himself, Emmett McCarthy, Royce King, Isabella and Alice all in the one room, with so many tensions, opinions and betrayals, there was no other way it could go but south.

* * *

_Isabella_

Isabella, Alice and Sophie had gathered in the sitting room Sophie had commandeered as her preparation room for both the ball and Isabella's upcoming wedding. Although Alice never spoke to Isabella, the three had managed to get a fair amount of planning done for the ball that was to be held next week.

It was all coming so fast for Isabella. Before her wedding was a dream, something that would eventually happen, but here now she was planning it, watching the whole event come into being. It was more than a little frightening.

"So the plan is that there will be a hundred or so guests at the ball, all of which will gather in the main ballroom. I'll get tables set up inside so hopefully we can keep the guests from wandering around the rest of the house," Sophie was saying, shuffling papers in front of her as she did so. "Of course, we'll have to put up board for those who won't be able to make a long journey back home, but hopefully with the amount of space we have, that won't be a problem."

"How many rooms would you need to be available?" Alice asked.

Sophie didn't even pause in her work as she replied. "At the moment, it's looking like thirty or so people will need rooms, but that number is sure to rise as we get more replies back this week. We'll most likely need them all."

Alice nodded, jotting something down a piece of paper she had in front of her. Isabella sat between them on her own couch, feeling utterly useless. Occasionally, she would be asked a question or would have to decide something, but everything else was being taken care of. Not to mention to fact that Alice still wasn't talking to her and Sophie was too busy to include her much in conversation.

"We will also need extra helpers outside to help the guests with their belongings," Sophie was saying.

"We don't have any spare maids," Alice protested.

While Sophie and Alice debated where they could get extra hands, Isabella stood up, quietly leaving the room. She navigated the hallways, eventually coming to a door leading to the back gardens. It was a rare sunny day, those of which were uncommon here, so Isabella decided to wander the grounds and enjoy it while she could.

She was admiring a flower bush when she heard Edward's voice. Looking up, she saw him walking with Jasper a few paths over. They obviously hadn't seen her yet.

"I'm not going to force her to travel with me, but I'm going crazy here," he was saying. Immediately, Isabella knew he was talking about the conversation they had earlier in the day on their picnic. "Honestly, I can see why she's reluctant. Travelling isn't a lifestyle any woman would choose for herself. It's a difficult situation. She doesn't want to leave and I can't stay." He sighed, pulling at his hair.

Jasper looked thoughtful next to him. They ambled on and Isabella crept along with them, trying to stay low in order not to be seen. She knew eavesdropping was bad, but she had to know what he had to say. She had no idea what to do in this situation and she wanted to hear his views on the situation when he wasn't withholding them for her sake.

"Well," Jasper eventually drawled. "What about children? You can't expect to travel with a baby."

Apparently, Edward hadn't given as much though to the possibility as she had. "Children," he choked out. Through the bushes, Isabella could see him looking at Jasper with wide, wild eyes.

It kind of hurt her actually. Did he not want children with her? If not, he must have known that there was a very real possibility that she could one day soon be with child, especially considering they weren't exactly model examples of abstinence.

His brother laughed, a full belly, head thrown back laugh. "That's generally what happens," he quipped.

Edward scrubbed a hand though his hair. "Argh. You're right. Maybe… I don't know. Maybe it'd be best if we did stay."

Jasper looked at him seriously then. "Would you be able to be happy with that decision? That life?"

That was a question Isabella was asking herself as well. Could she really ask Edward to stay for her own happiness when it would compromise his own?

Either way, one of them would end up disappointed.

Deciding that she had heard enough, Isabella silently crept back towards the house, in the opposite direction from where the two were walking. Her mind was swirling with thoughts of travelling, weddings, the ball and a tiny, blanket bundled human being held in a terrified father's arms.

* * *

It was later that night while Isabella was reading in the library that Edward finally found her. After leaving the afternoon off on such a good note, Isabella knew he wouldn't expect her tangled emotions. But that didn't stop her from feeling them.

He settled on the couch beside her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. Isabella kept her eyes on the page, attempting to appear as if she was lost in her book in order to give her a few moments to gain control of her swirling thoughts and emotions.

"What's wrong?" he asked, apparently not fooled by her act.

Sighing, she set the book on her lap, looking up into his concerned eyes. She had no idea how to bring this conversation up. Would he freak out again like he did while talking to Jasper? Or would he prove all her fears right? She was frightened to find out.

Taking a deep breath, she blurted. "I heard you talking to Jasper this afternoon!"

Edward looked bewildered and scared at the same time. "You already knew I wanted to travel, I don't see why you're upset now…" he trailed off, brushing her hair back from her forehead.

"That's not why." She paused for a moment. "I mean, I am confused about that was well, but it was the part about…about children," she whispered, avoiding his gaze by staring at her book in her lap.

Edward sighed, pulling her closer to him. "What did I say?"

She bit her lip. "It wasn't so much as what you said, but your reaction. You just seemed so _surprised_. Like…"

"Like what?"

She was a little embarrassed to say it aloud, but she knew Edward wouldn't drop it until she told him what was really wrong. "Like you didn't want children with me," she whispered.

To her utter shock, Edward started laughing. It vibrated through her, making her even angrier with him.

"Why are you laughing?" she demanded, glaring at the side of his head as he threw it back in laughter. _Really!_ Nothing she had said was in any way funny.

Containing his mirth, though not well enough as a few chuckled slipped through, he looked at her once again, smiling indulgently at her.

"You should have stayed for the rest of the conversation."

Her mouth popped open in surprise. "What on earth do you mean?"

"Well," he drew out. "I remember quite clearly a conversation with my brother in which I told him that I wouldn't mind having children with you." He raised an eyebrow. "But you obviously didn't stay for that part of our _private walk_."

Isabella blushed furiously. Of course she had misunderstood once again. Why did she have to jump to conclusions? She had only made a fool out of herself.

"I'm sorry for misunderstanding. And for spying on you."

Burying his head in her hair, he sighed. "It's okay, but next time, talk to me. You have absolutely no need to spy, I'll tell you anything you want to know."

Smiling, she hugged him. "In that case, we should probably talk about the possibility of children sooner rather than later. We haven't been exactly abstinent you know."

He stiffened before relaxing once again. "I'm sure it's not an issue. The wedding isn't until the end of the year. Nothing will happen before then, I promise."

Isabella was silent. She wanted to believe him, but couldn't. When it came right down to it, he didn't have any control whatsoever on if she fell pregnant or not. Not if he was going to continue to sneak into her room at nights. In the end, what would happen would happen, whether or not they were ready.

She knew they should have been more careful, but there was no changing that now.

* * *

_Authors Note: I know nothing exciting happened in this chapter and that's because it's more or less a filler. Nothing long, but important just the same. This has backstory for things I plan to bring up again in the next few chapters. Read as much into this as you like. ;)_

_Thanks for reading. Review?_


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